THE EMPEROR
by ravendarkholme23
Summary: "You're a criminal now too." "Shut up, Jack, before I make you. It still doesn't change anything." In which, a former FBI agent turned psychologist is dragged back into the magic business and only stays to protect the person she loves the most. {Now You See Me 2} {Jack Wilder / OC} {COMPLETE}
1. PROLOGUE

**_Reciting Voltaire_**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

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 _"'_ _Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.'"_

"Do you always quote Voltaire, Riss? And you're talking about cards – you miss Jack."

 _"_ _Oh, papa, I love Voltaire quotes and please, shut up…"_

 _(Clarissa Sinclair and Dylan Rhodes)_

 **XXXXX**

Clarissa Sinclair was in love with Jack Wilder and she was still afraid to admit, especially after leaving him, the Horsemen and the Eye – the only family she had left.

She had left about three months into the year the Four Horsemen were in hiding, disappearing from everything and everyone for the rest of the year. Of course, she had a decent reason to, one that no one would know about until she was ready.

But Clary didn't expect to be dragged back into the Eye when a young tech-wizard demands the Four Horsemen's service.

Or for him to threaten the most important person in her life now – someone that wasn't Jack Wilder.

 **XXXXX**

In which, a former-FBI-agent, turned-child-psychologist tries to keep a big secret from her former team and the pickpocket who stole her heart – one that could potentially change the life she had built for herself and the one she loves.

 **XXXXX**

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 **Thanks so much for the support for The Empress and now I hope that the sequel, The Emperor, will have the same support. The Emperor will follow the storyline of Now You See Me 2. I would really love it if you wonderful readers can follow and favourite and most of all REVIEW this story!**

 **I'm also not sure when I'll be updating next because my laptop has decided to enter Computer Heaven. But I promise that I will try to.**

 **Thank you again!**

 **~ Raven**


	2. CHAPTER 1

**_Tarot Card_**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

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Her heels clicked across the marbled floor, her phone clutched in her hand. Clarissa Sinclair was a qualified child psychologist, with very little experience, in a sense, and a certain charm that could draw anyone in. She had this maternal air about her and parents felt more than comfortable with allowing their children to sit down and have a talk to Clarissa.

She had just finished with a client, an eleven-year-old who wanted to please his parents so desperately that he was forcing himself into restless nights and eating disorders and now she maneuvering her way through the bustling streets of her new home – Paris.

Her work was engaging and gave the green-eyed woman a sense of accomplishment. After leaving the Eye, Clary had moved to France and joined a psychiatric practice, finally using her knowledge to the fullest.

Clarissa's best friend and roommate, a beautiful American woman named Joan, was at home and Clary knew better than to ask her to come out of the apartment for lunch. It just wasn't who Joan was, she preferred to stay out of sight. Clary understood that, she was extremely close to the woman and saw her as an older sister and wouldn't force her into anything she didn't want to do. Besides, Joan had company other than Clarissa to keep her sane and although Clary didn't want Joan to take all the responsibility around their quaint apartment, Joan said it was okay and did so anyway.

Clarissa had once explained to a young woman who she spoke to about Tarot cards. The girl was suffering from mild depression, that her parents feared would grow, so Clarissa gave her something else to focus on. Tarot cards were sometimes referred to by names – names that were directly akin to attributes of the card. The girl noticed that the Tarot card 'The Star' could be referred to as 'Stella,' the girl's name coincidently, and represented tranquility, hope and goodwill. Clary didn't discourage the girl when she told Clarissa that she would try to be everything The Star was.

Clarissa's own Tarot card: The Empress, was always in her bag, tucked into her wallet. The card, a belt and her jewelry – the ones given to her by her father – were the only _real_ reminders the brunette kept from her old life with the Eye. Her now-shoulder-length brown hair flicked around her face as Clary pushed her way out of the building and into the street, hailing a taxi as quickly as possible. A taxi pulled to the side and Clary climbed in with a huff.

"Tough day?"

Clary's jaw set at the question. Did the driver really expect an answer? He was already suspicious enough, he was speaking English in France. Something wasn't right. "No."

The taxi driver hummed and it was silent again. Clarissa tried not to focus on how familiar the driver's voice was, or how she should've gotten out of the taxi immediately and instead thought about the Four Horsemen's comeback attempt that had gone horribly wrong. Both Jack and Dylan's covers were blown and they were, once again, running for their lives.

"You know…" The driver started and the brunette in the backseat lifted piercing green eyes up at the man. "You really are as scary as everyone says you are."

"What—" Clary began to say but the man flicked the lights on that were on the roof, the word 'sleep' highlighted in them.

Clarissa shifted uneasily, staring at the word. He was attempting to hypnotize her. After a few more moments of just staring at the roof, Clary looked towards the rearview mirror trying to meet the driver's eyes.

"Whoever sent you apparently didn't tell you. I can't be hypnotized."

"No, they didn't," the man admitted and finally lifted his head. "But I came prepared."

The hat had shielded his face but now the Sinclair woman was staring at a man who looked eerily like Merritt McKinney.

Her eyes widened, "You're Merritt's brother, Chase…" Once, what seemed like a lifetime ago, Merritt had told Clary all about his life and his psychotic brother who had run off with everything the Mentalist had.

"Right," Chase McKinney confirmed before he shot Clary in the chest with a taser. Fifty-thousand volts flooded through Clarissa's body and she convulsed before she collapsed against the seats, unconscious. The creepier McKinney twin shrugged, putting down the taser and sang the McKinney twins' song quietly as he drove.

 **XXXXX**

"Get your grubby hands off me," Clarissa snarled, venom lacing her voice and her eyes shooting daggers at people. The guards didn't drop her arms, having already seen – in the five minutes Clary had been there – how destructive the five-foot-four woman could be if they let go of her. Clarissa struggled again.

Slow clapping drew Clary's attention up as she tugged against the grip of the hired-muscle that still had a tight grip on her. The brunette scowled, deciding that not speaking was probably the best course of action.

The man was dark-haired and British, judging by the annoying accent. Clarissa usually loved British accents, but something about the man in general made her want to back away and sprint for the elevator she had seen as she was dragged into the room.

"My name is Walter Mabry."

The woman raised a brow at the familiar name, "And I don't care."

Walter chuckled, amused, though Clary knew he wouldn't be for long, before continuing, "You played an FBI agent, now you're a successful psychologist. You're also an extremely talented magician. It's an honor to be working with you."

Clary frowned, lips sealed shut and she glanced at a bundle of fabric thrown over the couch near her and a gun beside it. She wasn't working with _anyone_. With a calculated move, Clarissa drove her elbow in the man's nose who was holding her left arm, her foot into the family jewels of the man on her right and grabbed the gun. With her right hand, the brunette leveled the gun at the Mabry man.

"I've got to say," the man started, a smug smile on his face and the guns of the bodyguards were turned on Clarissa. He had placed the items there on purpose, the Sinclair woman knew that, but he had _no_ idea about what Clarissa was capable of. "I'm a little disappointed. I thought you would've gone for the cloak."

Clarissa smiled a dangerous grin. "You _really_ don't know me, so don't pretend that you understand me."

Her left hand was behind her back, her fingers ever-so-slightly tangled in the fabric and she flicked her wrist, the cloak wrapping around her shoulders. The British man's face fell, not expecting the woman to have enough time to go for both items, and at that moment, Clarissa shot out her cloak, the tip wrapping around the ankle of the bodyguard closest to her and tossing him on his ass, causing him to take out two of his friends.

As the man fell, Clary was already angling the cloak around the gun of another guard, dragging it to her. The woman smashed the butt of the gun against the nearest guard's head and kicked out her leg, catching the man's knee. He fell with a groan of pain and she turned back to another guard, running to jump onto the guard's shoulder. With a calculated twist, both fell to the ground, the man unconscious and the female standing up and flicking her cloak around.

Vaguely, the Sinclair woman heard the elevator open but she continued to fight, the cloak wrapping around the five guards near her. She had wrapped the cloak around a guard's neck, keeping him near her to shield her in case any bodyguards wanted to shoot her and Clary's gun was pointed at Walter's face. He stared down the barrel of the gun for a moment before he spoke exuberantly.

"Ta-da!" Walter trilled as a card, which Clary hadn't noticed he was holding, flew out of his grip, the man turned to the Horsemen in the elevator. "So happy to be working with you. Please, come in, come in." The odd man tilted his head at Clarissa, "Do let him go; good help is so hard to find these days."

When Clary didn't move to let him go, Walter let out a sigh and said slowly, "Charles." Clarissa froze. The Four Horseman had stood in the elevator, watching Clary fight, the male members and friends of Clary keeping their eyes on her and they had been shoved into the room as soon as the man in the white suit 'welcomed' them in. She had reacted so violently to one name. Why?

The Sinclair woman bit her lip, releasing the man she was holding.

Walter flicked a hand to another of his men, "Take anyone injured and fix them up. And take her gun and cloak."

Clarissa dropped the cloak and gun, kicking them away from her and standing still. A guard swooped over to grab the items and the injured – those either unconscious or groaning in pain – were dragged from the room. Clary extended her hands and one of the guards stepped forward to snap a pair of cuffs around her wrists.

"That was impressive," Walter praised. "But I'm glad you were able to listen. I would hate for something to happen to the _love of your life_."

"Oh, get fu—" The woman didn't finish her curse as a burly man's hand clamped over her mouth.

The green-eyed woman watched as the guards moved away but not before they moved Clary closer to the Horsemen. The Sinclair woman glared forcefully at Walter and as soon as the hand removed itself from her mouth, swore at him in French. It didn't last long, her cursing him, but it sure as Hell made her feel better. This man had the gall to _kidnap_ her from her life in France and then _threatened_ one of the only people she cared about?

The British man had a sick sense of humor, cheerfully watching the hints of jealousy and confusion flicker over Jack Wilder's face and the despair and fear on Clarissa's, along with an unwavering hatred flashing in her eyes. Walter sat on one of the pristine couches in the room and pulled on his shoes. The woman really had no doubt that Walter would not follow through with his threat, or at least, he'd get someone else to do the dirty work for him.

"Wait, sorry, how are you working with us?" Daniel demanded.

"Oh, well, as much as a magician who pulls a rabbit from a hat is working with that rabbit." He strode across the glass floor of the sunken lounge, "We'll be working together. Yes. Allow me to introduce myself."

"Yeah, you're Walter Mabry," Jack drawled, arms crossed over his chest and his face devoid of emotion. "You died a year ago."

"Yes. An idea I got from you, Mr Wilder. Fake your death, the world puts its guard down. I'm able to control quite a few companies, including my old partner, Owen's, as a consortium of so-called anonymous shareholders."

The dark-haired woman Clary didn't know spoke up, "And that violates how many SEC laws?"

"I believe it breaks all of them." Walter didn't seem too fazed by that fact, sounding almost proud.

"All of them," The woman repeated, nodding sarcastically.

"You see, you all want an audience. Need one, desperately. It's quite sad, really," Walter explained.

Clary scoffed, "Not the only thing that's sad in this room."

Walter ignored the brunette, "Hence, my ability to nab you. I, on the other hand, want the opposite of that. I just want to be, and I am one-hundred percent off the grid. You know why?"

"Yeah, because the grid is for actual human beings," Daniel sassed and Clary bit her lip to cover her smile. She missed his attitude, even if the Atlas man was a huge pain in her ass.

"No, because in a world of total surveillance, the only true freedom lies in not being seen. You can't control the grid from within the grid."

"Ooh," Clary smirked, tilting her head. "You're _afraid_ of being seen."

Walter glared and pointed at the cuffs, as if to say 'don't test me.' He looked to the Horsemen, "Follow me." None of them moved and Walter repeated, "Follow me."

The Horsemen were pushed forward by the guards, each of them muttering some type of annoyance at being pushed around. The same man that had gotten an elbow to the face when he touched her, moved awkwardly towards Clarissa.

"Try it," Clary taunted. "I dare you."

The man moved backwards and the brunette flipped her hair back and sauntered over to the Horsemen by herself, grateful that she wasn't being manhandled by the guards. Walter Mabry was already on her bad side and Clarissa was more than willing to give him a piece of her mind.

 **XXXXX**

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 **Oooh, who is this Joan? Can she be trusted, she sounds a bit suspicious...**

 **And who's Charles? Is he really 'the love of Clary's life'?**

 **Then, we end with a very sassy Clary who kicks ass like a boss. I've never said 'like a boss' before and I don't think I'm going to do it again.**

 **Thank you for supporting this story!** ** _The Emperor_** **is going to be filled with a lot more drama than** ** _The Empress._** **As it's shown in this chapter, yeah, Lula is going to be in this story, but she isn't going to hold a major role. Cause, you know, Clary and Jack are endgame (someone can think of a ship name if they want).**

 **I was also asked if Henley is going to be in this story and all I can say is: maybe...(insert devil face here)**

 **I love you guys! Please review, favourite and follow this story. I'm in the process of writing the next few chapters so wait for that and please, send me your theories on why you think Clary left the Eye!**

 **~ Raven**


	3. CHAPTER 2

_**Tasered**_

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

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Walter moved to a table full of food, something that Clary found extremely childish and pointed at Lula May, the new-comer to the Eye, "You pulled a hat out of a rabbit. That was very colorful."

"Almost eight and a half years ago. So, no need to bring that up," The dark-haired woman replied, looking annoyed by the fact that was brought up.

"We can't all be held accountable for our adolescent personas." Walter took a bite of the cookie he grabbed and looked at Daniel, "Can we, Magicolio?"

"Magicolio, that was fifteen years ago," Daniel looked embarrassed and Lula tilted her head at him with a smirk.

Walter then turned to Clary, "And the wonderful, beautiful Empress who tricked men's hearts and stole their wallets."

Clarissa shrugged. Slightly after the Eye, before the FBI, Clary was a pickpocket working as 'The Empress,' like her Tarot card. That was how the brunette got so good at stealing and managed to steal off a fellow thief.

Her smile was mocking, as was her tone, "Ooh, if I didn't know you better, Mr Mabry, I would think you _admired_ me…"

Walter didn't look at Clary and she felt strangely attacked. Everyone was ignoring her today…but she really didn't blame them. The Horsemen had been abandoned by her, Lula May didn't know her and her sarcasm sometimes got a bit much.

"Don't get me wrong, I love magic. Like you, and many others who, I suppose, were not getting any sex in high school, I dabbled with it," Merritt pointed at Daniel as Walter said the last sentence. "But, uh, unlike you, I was able to transition upward towards actual magic. Science, you may have heard it called." The man rubbed his hands together. "So, would you like to know, my friends, just how I got you here?"

"We know how you did it," Merritt told him.

"No, you don't."

Jack gave a bored nod, "Yeah, you stole our files for the show, then obviously hypnotized us."

"Stop. No. Seriously, stop."

"The strobe was a combo of binaural beats, as well as…" Merritt continued but was cut off by Walter grabbing his face.

"I said stop! You might not be having fun, but I am."

Merritt pursed his lips. "You have an unusual way of showing it."

Clarissa pushed Walter away from her friend and scowled, "At least you hypnotized them." The others looked confused and Clary moved her hair away from where it rested over her collarbones. Two prong-like marks were in the skin just under her right collarbone. "I got _tasered_. I'm seriously gonna kick Chase's ass for that."

Jack looked worriedly at the woman. He wanted, desperately, to make sure that she was okay. A year without her and it was like Clarissa hadn't left as all as soon as he saw her.

"So..." Walter had the decency to look a little bit ashamed about how his 'employee' handled things – Clary was _tasered_ – and moved away from the group. "How did I do it? Easy. You see, magicians like to control other people's perceptions. In your heightened state of agitation, you saw the simplest cues. Black tube, roof."

 _The Horsemen hurried across the roof to the black tube that would lead to the get-away truck, slightly shoving each other in their haste. A small distance away, an identical tube sat on the roof._

"And your minds filled in the rest. But the tube you meant to go down was twenty feet to your right. Go on, sit down. There's no one standing in your way." At his words, the five magicians found themselves being forced to move again. Clary merely glared at Walter as she was shoved onto the coach in between Jack and Lula May, the new member of the Horsemen Clarissa recalled her father telling her about.

"Don't mind if I do," Merritt muttered sarcastically, sitting on Jack's other side as they all dropped onto the couch.

"Anyway, once in the tube, yes, you're right...Blah, blah, blah, the strobe contained UV letters pulsing the word 'sleep.' And that, combined with the sound, put you into an instant alpha pattern."

 _The Horsemen landed on the back of a truck, spread out and very much asleep, the word 'sleep' echoing in their ears._

"We tried the same thing with Miss _Rhodes_ ," Walter continued, using her real last name. "But she isn't susceptible to hypnotism. I did wonder how Chase got you here and—" The Mabry man indicated the prong marks in her chest, "—now I know."

"Oh, yeah," Clarissa snarled. "It was so much fun – twelve hours on a plane, unconscious, with a psychopath. I'm _so_ glad that you now know how I got here."

"And from then on, it really was just more fun." Walter sat down between Lula and Clary, pushing Clary into Jack's chest rather uncomfortably. Awkwardly, the former couple's eyes met and they glanced away, trying to ignore their proximity. Clary could feel the cool leather against her hands and Jack could feel the heat radiating off her lithe body. "And I can assure you, you don't know what happened."

The dark-haired man then pressed a button on the remote he held and played a small video full of photos of the unconscious Horsemen. The photos were amusing but it was scary for Clarissa to see how vulnerable her friends were in those hours on the plane with a nutcase.

"That's really creepy," Lula muttered, glancing at the other Horsemen and Clarissa Sinclair, an amazing and inspiring woman she had only heard _stories_ about. Lula was excited to meet all the members of the Four Horsemen but she hadn't known about Clarissa's involvement. And now, the Eye and Horsemen was so much cooler. "Really, really creepy."

"That's not cool."

Clary's lip curled up, confusion and fear mingled in her expression. Walter Mabry didn't seem stable – she assumed that he had some daddy issues, a sense of abandonment and an unhealthy obsession with the Four Horsemen as it would seem. Now she just had to figure out why she was here.

"Yep, easy stuff, magic, if you put your mind to it." Walter continued speaking as the slideshow continued on, filled with embarrassing and awkward photos of the Horsemen.

"All right, that's enough," Daniel interrupted. "So why are we here, then? Besides you getting to show off how adorably clever you are."

Walter nodded, "Well, to start with, the man you stole from last year, turns out I had invested quite a lot of money in some of his companies, so a lot of what you stole was, in fact, mine." Clary pursed her lips, annoyed. "Good news is, it's very easy for you to pay me back. I just need your skills."

He pressed a button, showing photos of Owen and himself. "Owen and I were like the Beatles, if the Beatles had been..."

"Elfin?" Daniel inquired.

"Psychotic?" Clarissa suggested next, sharing a smirk with Danny.

Walter gave them a look, "...geniuses."

"Pretty sure the Beatles were geniuses," Lula piped up and Clary nodded in agreement.

"And like them, we had a dream. Could we create actual, genuine magic?" Clarissa leant forward, her sharp eyes analysing the diagram of what looked like a large, advanced computer chip.

Merritt asked, "And I'm guessing one of you achieved that dream, and it wasn't you?"

"That is what he would like you to think." Walter got up, smoothing out the wrinkles in his suit. "My vision was a perfect blend of elegance and technology. But Owen wanted it for himself so he humiliated me by exposing my private files to the board of directors and convinced them that I am unstable."

Daniel gave the British man a blank look, "Did you take a picture of him while he was sleeping?"

Clary shrugged, settling into the middle of the couch again and leant back. "As a professional, I agree with Owen _completely_."

Walter ignored them both, ranting, "He had me kicked out of my own company, and now he goes around taking credit for a chip that's not just the key to one computer, but every computer system on the planet." Clary's eyebrows lifted significantly, that was incredible…and dangerous if in the wrong hands – Walter's, for example. "It can un-encrypt anything, crack the defense firewall, manipulate markets, and spy on anyone. And now it's being sold to the highest bidder."

"If you're so rich, why don't you just buy it?" Jack asked, looking bored and Clary flexed her jaw.

"Oh no, Walter Mabry is too _proud_ for that."

Walter pointed at Clary, "Exactly. So he gets the money? And the pleasure? No. No, no, no. Besides, why would I buy it when I could have you steal it for me?"

"Oh!" Lula laughed as Jack chuckled along with her. Uncomfortable, Clary crossed her legs. She wasn't jealous, but even if it was maybe true, she was too proud to admit it.

Walter explained the plan, "It's being previewed tomorrow to the various suitors, which will include your targets, a crew led by a South African gangster."

"South African gangster," Lula repeated, a slight accent tinging her voice.

"Yes," Walter confirmed. "How your team gets past security, that's up to you. But once you do, you just need to inspect it and steal it."

"That's it?" Daniel asked but the green-eyed woman frowned. This sounded too simple.

The Brit smiled enthusiastically, "Come on, this is perfect for you, isn't it? You're magicians and thieves."

"What makes you think we would even consider doing this?" The Wilder man asked, leaning forward.

Clarissa lifted a brow, adding, "I have no part of the Horsemen, why do you think _I'd_ agree to this? Why do you even _need_ me?"

"Um, oh, wait, I had a reason. What was it? Oh, yes," Walter stated. "You see, back home, you're wanted criminals—"

"I'm not," Clary sighed.

"—But here, I control the police, the casinos, the media. I can give you a new life, out of hiding—"

"The Eye can do that too."

"—And if you don't, I'll have you killed, and—" Walter added, staring straight at the Sinclair woman, "—everyone you love."

"Well," Clarissa gave up thinking up retorts, feeling scared and defeated. "That's pretty convincing."

"And," Walter continued, answering Clary's question now, "I need you, Clarissa Rhodes, because you have skills in thievery and you can keep the Horsemen in line, especially Mr Wilder."

Clary pursed her lips, her skills were sub-par at best and she couldn't control Jack, no one could, she couldn't even when they were together. There was a moment of silence before Jack pushed himself up.

"You know what? I'm not stealing a thing for you." The dark-haired man stopped in front of Walter, towering over him by a few inches. "Not unless Dylan tells me it's okay."

"Really? Dylan is where, exactly?"

Clary got up, standing beside Jack, "Don't talk about him like that. I won't do a _single_ thing for you, not after threatening those I love."

"It doesn't matter. Yeah, I'm with him…" Lula realised Clary was there, having been focused completely on Jack and added, "…and her. So you can go ahead and kill us because I'm not gonna steal anything for you either."

"Strikes me that a consensus seems to be forming, Walter, and we're calling your bluff," Merritt said, standing up beside Clarissa and Jack.

One of Walter's men stepped forward but Daniel interrupted, "Actually, we'll do it. Clary too – she _can_ control us and she's even more talented than Jack."

Clary had been able to steal off Jack, which no one could forget, it was really impressive and she also helped design the plans for the Four Horsemen's first act. Jack smiled, proud of Clary and not even remotely insulted by Daniel's words: 'she's more talented than Jack.'

"What?" The others exclaimed, confused.

The Atlas man flicked his hand, "We're in Macau. The oldest magic store in the world is here. We'll get the supplies we need, and we'll do it."

"How dare—" Clarissa cried, eyes alight with anger. Daniel had no right to push her into this!

"Thank you," Walter and Daniel shook hands and the green-eyed woman's hands tightened into fists. "It should be fun. Chase will take you to the magic shop in the morning."

As Walter walked away, Clarissa muttered, "Little _bit_ —" before another hand, Merritt's this time, clamped over her mouth and she sent him a death glare.

 **XXXXX  
**

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 **A guest, K, guessed my plotline on the nose and I'm so sorry my stories are so flimsy! I'm working on it, scout's honor. But Clary is so damn sassy and I love it.**

 **If you don't want to read anymore, guest named K, it's okay, I don't mind. You can probably write this story better than I can. :)**

 **But still, review! Follow! Favourite! I'd love it if you did.**

 **~ Raven**


	4. CHAPTER 3

**_Chinese_**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

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"Steal something for this narcissistic little man boy? I don't like it," Merritt grumbled as the Four Horsemen and Clarissa Sinclair (technically Shrike, but who really cared?) weaved through the bustling streets of Macau. "But what I like less is you deciding for us. And deciding completely for Clary."

Clary didn't mind all that much – she actually kind of missed the rush and thrill of the magic. But she had Charlie and Joan to think of, she couldn't afford to throw her career away for something as trivial as a few cards tricks.

"Yeah? Do you like that we're the laughing stocks of the magic world, and the fugitives of the actual world? Walter is right. We have nowhere to go."

"But we can fix that," Lula said, as positive as ever.

"We can _fix_ it?" Clary growled, basically taking the words out of Daniel's mouth. "I had a life back in Paris, I had a job, I had an apartment and a friend I could trust completely – and yeah, 'the love of my life's' there too. Now, I'm stuck in Macau, the only family I have is trapped with me and we can _fix this_!?"

Lula didn't look deterred, "Yeah!"

Clarissa scoffed, just about ready to grab Lula by the shoulders and shake her to find out if there was an actual brain in her head.

"So you're officially part of the team now?" Daniel bit back.

"Excuse me?"

Jack muttered, "I'm sure this is what Dylan meant when he said we should all work as a single organism."

Clary flicked her hair (it was shorter now, curling near her neck rather than down her back) and tossed back her head, laughing. Once again, like almost two years ago, Jack was mesmerized by the woman beside him. Her head tipped back, the light dancing off her features – Clarissa Sinclair was just as beautiful as she had been when they had first had coffee together and Jack had first made her laugh.

Although, the laugh was more mocking than anything else at that moment.

"My father's still spouting that crap?" The brunette laughed, Lula's eyes becoming wide at the link between 'Dylan' and 'father.' Clary had been kept relatively secret, Walter had even refrained from exposing the girl to the world like he'd exposed Dylan and Jack. And she'd also not been a part of the Four Horsemen, even if she worked in the shadows, directing them.

"Yeah, that is a fairy-tale that Dylan tells himself, and tells us," Daniel agreed. "Look, even if we get this stick, he'll never let us go. We can't trust Walter, okay?"

" _Really,_ Danny? Never would've guessed that one."

"The Eye has a history in Macau. They're the only ones we can trust," Daniel continued. "Now, if we can get it to them, they can clear our names and get us the hell out of here."

"It's a bad plan, man," Lula said bluntly.

"Yeah," Clary admitted. "But still, that's never stopped us before."

 **XXXXX**

"'The Road to Riches,'" Clarissa translated the words off a large, round door she saw as soon as Daniel opened the doors to the shop, a small bell tinkling above them. The characters were written beautifully in white paint, in Cantonese, a language Clary had learnt fluently in her teen years after learning French.

Jack stared at Clarissa. She was beautiful, smart and talented but she hid some much from everyone, the walls around her heart had strengthened in the year away from the Horsemen, the Eye and…Jack, one of two – now one of three, counting Charles, whoever he was – who made her let down the walls that guarded her so well.

"Hey," Daniel greeted, ringing the bell on the bench to catch the attention of the people behind the desk. There was a young man, listening to music and an old woman who Clary assumed was his grandmother. "Hi, how are you? Um, we need some things custom-made. Actually, by tomorrow. We're kind of in a rush. And…" Daniel trailed off realising something. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

" _Excuse me, ma'am,_ " Clary called out in Chinese and the woman looked at her. " _My friends and I need help and most only know English._ "

The old woman nodded and threw some peanuts at the boy with headphones on, " _Boy, customer_."

" _Okay. Okay, don't rant. I'm going_." The young man got up, pulling off his headphones and greeting the group of magicians, "Welcome to Iong's. My name's Li. Not Bruce Lee." A spring shot out at Daniel and he moved back with a 'oh.'

"What?"

"Got you," Li clicked.

"Okay."

"Look," he instructed, fishing out a flashing object that looked unnervingly like rubber thumbs.

"Where'd it go?" Daniel asked sarcastically as Li passed it through his ear and 'swallowed' it, only to suddenly move the thumb close to Daniel's head. The Atlas man leant back slightly, "Oh! And now it's by my head. How fun."

Li grinned, offering, "$20."

Lula looked up from her magazine, "$20?"

"No, thank you," Daniel declined. "We're kind of in a rush."

"$10."

"Uh, no."

"Two for one," Li made two appear.

"No."

"Okay, all right," Jack said, pulling out his wallet. "Just give us the thumbs. Yeah?"

Daniel nodded, passing the thumbs to the young Horseman, "Okay. Thanks a lot, Jack. Please take these." He turned back to Li, "So, we need a Keplinger holdout, and we also need roughing fluid, a Sanada gimmick, sleeves, tracks. This is all in plastic, though, if you can."

" _Sleeves, tracks, all to be plastic. All the props_."

" _Plastic_?" Li's grandmother asked. " _What? No. It would be too crude_."

Clarissa smiled lightly, " _We know, but it's imperative that it's all in plastic._ "

Daniel frowned, glancing between his brunette friend and the Chinese shopkeeper, "Is there a problem?"

Li indicated the old woman, "My grandmother wants to know why plastic? Plastic is cheap."

"Sorry. Yeah, we need plastic because we're…" He paused at Clary's nudge but continued, making hand movements and speaking slowly to try and get the old woman to understand. "We're going through a very sensitive metal detector, okay? So plastic, nothing. Metal…woo, woo, woo." He made flashy hands, "It detects.

" _Boss, even if you use plenty of woo, woo, woo or like this. I still don't understand_ ," Li's grandmother mocked Daniel and Clarissa snickered.

"Danny, if you could hear her now," the Sinclair woman laughed.

"What did she say?" Daniel demanded.

"She said just because you're talking slowly and moving your hands doesn't mean she can suddenly understand English," Li translated.

Lula butted in, "Oh, yeah. So sorry. He's racist."

"Guys, we'll be right back," Merritt called to the group, moving to the door with Chase. Clarissa eyed the insane McKinney for a moment.

"Okay, kiddies, the chaperones are watching you. Don't do anything I wouldn't enjoy."

Daniel didn't glance up from the desk he was behind, continuing to look over scribbled notes, "Okay. Have fun, you two." He moved away, towards Li, "Hey. Can I use your phone? It's kind of important."

"Sure," Li placed a telephone on the counter in front of Daniel. "On the house."

"Thanks."

Jack and Clary wandered over, the young man asking, "Who are you calling?"

"Daniel…" The brunette girl started wearily. "What have you done?"

The Atlas man glanced at her. Clarissa was his friend, his ally, and he didn't want to admit that he had basically been betraying her father – going behind his back. But she had left. "I'm arranging to hand over the stick."

"So that's how we've been contacting the Eye?" Jack asked with a frown, "You've been doing it on your own?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, God. Dylan's not gonna like this," Jack breathed.

Daniel shook his head, "I'm not really concerned with what Dylan likes. Okay? I'm doing this for us."

Clary glared, " _Don't_ , Danny. How do you even know it's the Eye you're really contacting?"

The young woman stalked away, past Lula, who was struggling with a Chinese finger-trap as Daniel made the call. "What is wrong with this thing?"

Jack walked over to help, eyes following Clarissa as she trailed her fingers over the shelves. His eyes caught the familiar belt around her waist and a grin tugged his lips up. She hadn't gotten rid of it. He turned back to Lula, "Hey, relax, it's just a kid's toy."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the May woman retorted.

"Okay. Let me just…" Jack tugged at the finger-trap, pausing at Lula's 'ow!' "Sorry, sorry. Jesus."

 **XXXXX**

"And 0 for 52," Jack drawled out the 'and' as Lula failed to catch another card he threw. Clary was sitting on the bench, legs swinging as her eyes darted over a book written in Chinese.

"Well, it's perfect. It's a perfect score." The pair began to pick up the cards scattered over the ground. The woman glanced at Jack, "Then what about girls? Like, relationships?" The Wilder man made a noise. "What?"

"Look, it's not something I'm proud of, but every girl I get close to, I end up taking their trust," Jack admitted, refusing to mention Clary. "And then their wallet. So…"

"You take their wallets?" Lula raised her brows, "What about Clarissa? You take hers?"

Jack looked up sharply, pressing his lips together. "Yeah. Clary…" He smiled, gazing at the woman in front of them. "She's everything to me. I actually stole her wallet the first time we met."

"You ever take their belts?" Lula asked, pulling Jack's belt into sight, dropping it and then pulling a handful of peanuts from her pocket, dropping those as well. "Or how about some peanuts from the hotel bar? Not sure why you took those." Lula watched as Jack's smile fell, "I'm sorry, did you think that I was like those other girls? Oh, Jack."

Jack shook his head, "That's not it." He pointed up at Clary, specifically at her waist. "See that belt?" Lula nodded. "That's mine. First time we met, I stole Clary's wallet and she stole my belt. I thought she would've gotten rid of it but…she still has it."

Lula nodded thoughtfully and wandered away. She had been right, Clary and Jack had been together and they still clearly felt something for the other. Now, she was going to try everything in her power to get them back together.

"Clary," Daniel called, walking over Jack. The woman tossed the book over her shoulder and jumped to the ground. "Okay. So there's a marketplace own the street. And I'm meeting a man with a blue hat. He'll get the stick to the right people and get us home. You go grab Merritt, okay? Clary, find out if Charles is okay. We got a lot to do." Daniel was one of the only people who knew about Charlie and how much Clary loved him, so she was glad he mentioned him. Clarissa nodded gratefully, not seeing the devastated look on Jack's face. Daniel motioned to the ground, "And, hey, put your belt on."

"Oh, no, it's not…" Jack glanced at Clary, worried about what she would say, but she had turned away and was dialing a number on the telephone. No doubt calling _Charles._ "She took it off me and…"

Daniel just lifted his hands to signify that he didn't want to know as Jack stuttered.

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **I am so, so, sorry for the super-late update. This chapter isn't even very good, but you know, thought 'better something, than nothing.'**

 **Thank you everyone who is still reading this story, it means a lot to me!**

 **So oooh, Lula's playing match-maker, Jack is bitter and Daniel knows who Charles is...dun, dun, DUN!**

 **Charles and Joan will be mentioned again in the next chapter (have no idea when that will be posted) and hopefully you'll get to know him better.**

 **Please follow and favorite! Also, if any of my wonderful readers would like to PM me to ask questions or make comments, go right ahead - I love hearing from you!**

 **~ Raven**


	5. CHAPTER 4

**_Doctor, Doctor_**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END, PLEASE READ**

* * *

Daniel marked out a spot on the blueprint stretched over the table as Clary hovered over his shoulder, directing him to the spots. He circled a space on the plan, only to be flapped away by Clary.

"Wrong, Danny. Wrong place entirely. How do you even drive if you can't find a place on a _blueprint_?"

 **XXXXX**

"All right. So the lab is made up of two distinct layers, the security perimeter and the clean room. The stick we're looking for should be in this core." Daniel indicating the core on the large screen. Lula was eating, Jack was playing with a card and Merritt was reading.

Clarissa pursed her lips. "It's not going to be easy – extraction is our main enemy. We can get in easy enough but out…that's going to be tough."

The Sinclair woman passed Jack a hair comb, the man looking over it as Daniel continued, "So we're gonna have to get underneath, extract it, and replace it with a decoy. Now, we're about to get to the chip. This is the thing about the chip, it's very thin."

"Size and weight of a playing card," Clarissa supplied. "Cardistry is key in this plan. If we're not able to flip a card, this entire plan goes to shit."

 **XXXXX**

"Whoa, whoa!" Merritt called as a card Jack threw sailed over his head, towards Clary. She was seated at a table, flipping through a book and effortlessly reached up to snatch the card out of the air and toss it back to Jack.

The two men looked at her in awe and Clarissa got up with a sigh and moved to stand beside Merritt. She showed the man how to correctly move the card, the arm motions involved.

Jack moved on to throw a card to Daniel, who caught it easily, while Merritt was still having trouble throwing a card halfway across the room, commentating all his failures, "That's no good."

"We know."

Jack flipped a card, catching it on his mouth and Clary applauded. She reached forward and grabbed a card to copy the pickpocket's action. Merritt smiled and clapped when Clarissa did the trick.

Merritt was dragged away by Daniel to get a wire fitted to the width of both of his arms, something that he could use instead of relying just on his horrible card skills. Jack taught Lula how to fold a card to the back of her hand, making it seem like it wasn't there as Clary taught the woman how to hide the card in her hair and clothing.

 **XXXXX**

"Point of entry: Hannes Pike," Clary said, throwing a photo of the man onto the desk as the Horsemen sat around it.

"He's the son of a South African gangster," Daniel explained. "He's RSVP'd with what looks like a couple of members of his security detail. A doctor, to vet it, I guess, an engineer and somebody named Buffy."

 _Hannes Pike and his entourage stalked their way through the casino, acting as if they owned the place._

Lula added, "Yeah, apparently, he travels with a different bimbo every week." She mused, "Hmmm. I wonder which one of us gets to play the bimbo."

Daniel put a piece of cake in his mouth with an innocent expression and Clary shook her head, "I'd pay to see Merritt pay the bimbo."

 **XXXXX**

 _Merritt slid underneath a Chinese dragon parading around the casino, following after Hannes Pike._

 _"Hey, can I get in?" Lula asked across the casino, wearing a large fur coat and a black dress with cutouts along the waist._

 _Clary walked past, eyeing the people around her distastefully – specifically the couple kissing in the corner – and sashayed past a member of Hannes' entourage, giving him a sultry look. She didn't look like she fit into the casino, in her V-neck, cream jumpsuit but the man seemed to like it, following after her. Anything with breasts and a pulse, she supposed._

 _Merritt tapped on Hannes' shoulder and the man turned, immediately being hypnotized, "At the soothing sound of the slots you slip into a serene state of slumber and sleep."_

"Jack, for a moment, they will think you're Hannes, so lead them out and keep them busy."

 _"You trust your people implicitly," Merritt instructed Hannes, both men underneath the dragon. "You will have them take care of everything, and you will wait in the car. And eyes open, wide awake. Go."_

 _Hannes staggered away just as Jack got to a group of security-guards, indicating Hannes' people following him, "Excuse me. These people are following me. You might wanna check their pockets."_

 _The group were stopped, the guards rifling through their pockets as Jack walked away, smirking. Clary stepped out of the bathroom, letting the door hit the unconscious man's head as she left. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes with a look of disgust as she fell into step with Jack._

 _Merritt walked away from the dragon, Daniel turning around as well._

"Then our time is ticking to infiltrate the lab and get the card to the market, where I'll hand it off to the Eye, so we can all get the hell home."

 _The five walked out of the casino, serious expressions on their faces._

 **XXXXX**

The cars pulled to a stop outside the Macau Science Center that was housing the chip and a man with dark hair, a horrible mustache and an even more horrible jacket walked over to the car Hannes was in. Jack held out a hand to help Clary out of the car, the woman taking it with a smile.

"Hannes, my old friend. So glad you could make it. I knew you had a soft spot for an old-school bidding war. How have you been?"

The man's words were responded to with, "I trust my people implicitly. What they say goes."

"Certainly," the man smiled lightly. "But I'm sure you'd like to see it for yourself. Hold it in your hands, check the build quality." Merritt took his glasses off and Hannes turned away, rolling up the window. "Or not. Also fine." He turned to the Horsemen, "Well, if you'd like to follow me."

The Horsemen walked into the facility after the man, someone who Clary had taken to just calling 'John' in her head – he seemed bland enough for it. But then again, looks were deceiving. "You'll have to remove all your metal. Watches, rings, etcetera."

"Yeah, of course," Daniel agreed.

"Excuse me for asking…" Daniel hummed. "Where might I have seen you before?"

"I don't know, probably one of my many symposiums."

'John' seemed to realise, "The book jacket! I have to say, Dr. Michaelakis, I'm a huge fan. Of you as well, Doctor Calavera."

"Oh, thank you so much," Daniel responded with a frown. _Two doctors_? "Uh, which book? There have been so many…"

"Does Hannes' chippy always talk for you, Doctors?" 'John' asked Lula and Clary. Cary didn't look fazed. The Horsemen looked nervously at each other. "Doctors?"

Jack tried to hide his smile, "Sorry, when you say 'chippy,' you are referring to Buffy here, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Yes, he attempts to impress us," Clary grinned. "I think he's unhappy with the treatment he receives from Hannes."

Merritt hid his amusement too, "Hannes prefers the term 'floozy' for all his boy toys."

"Yeah."

"He does."

"That's good."

"Noted," 'John' said, turning back to Lula. "By the way, I got your email, Dr. Michaelakis. You had a query about our ability to maintain quantum coherence at room temperature without the use of dilution, refrigerators, or error correction. Do you care to elucidate?"

"Right."

"Yeah," Daniel breathed quietly.

"Yes, I did send that email."

Daniel nodded, "The other day, I saw you."

"I did, I sent it. So what gives?"

'John' frowned, "I'm sorry, what gives…"

"I think what she's trying to say…"

Lula cut Daniel off, "Actually, the grown-ups are having a meeting, Buffy."

"Okay."

The May woman pulled the gum from her mouth and handed it to Daniel, "If you'll hold on to that."

Daniel tried not to look disgusted, "Yeah, sure, Doctor."

"Thank you." Lula met 'John's' eyes, "Now, every seventh grader, even the dumb ones, know the second law of thermodynamics. 'All ordered systems tend toward disorder.' Disorder! So I'm going to ask you one more time, sir, what gives?"

Clary nodded, "My colleague is correct in asking. What exactly happens on a macroscopic level that you are able to control and then, of course, use to manipulate the stability, maintaining quantum coherence?"

Lula motioned to Clary in a 'that's exactly right' way and 'John' looked down before he began to explain, "Well, it's actually topological quantum order. The emergence of quantum effects on a macroscopic level, so Doctor Calavera, would be right. So that is, in fact, what gives."

Lula made a face like she was thinking about it before she said quietly, "Thank you," and pulled off her coat, handing it to 'John' and sashaying through the large metal detector. Clary shot the man a thankful smile and moved to the trays to start removing her metal.

"You know, Buffy is not a bad name for you," Merritt informed Daniel, who looked disgusted at the gum in his hand as they began to remove their metal items. "You know, buff, firm, taut."

"That's good. Did you just find a thesaurus somewhere?"

"Nubile," Merritt added.

Clary smirked, removing the belt she always wore around her waist – Jack's belt – and the jewelry from her father she never took off, "You know that 'buff' can mean ardent follower and admirer too?"

"That's good. Thank you," Daniel muttered sarcastically and Merritt slapped his belt at Daniel's butt. "Okay."

"There we go."

Merritt walked through the metal detector, the lights flashing green and as soon as Jack followed they turned red, blaring an alarm. "Sorry, sorry," the Wilder man apologized as the guards grabbed him.

" _Wallet. Go out first_ ," the guards said and Jack walked through again, the light green. Daniel and Clary hurried through too and Jack turned to the pair.

"The stick's metal. How are we going to get it out?"

Daniel shook his head, "Yeah. I don't know."

"This is the housing," 'John' told the group as they walked through sliding doors. "820 million qubit miles of digi-synaptic resonance. But of course, what sets us apart from anything else on the planet is the processor, which we playfully refer to as the Magic Broomstick."

"The Broomstick?" Lula inquired.

'John' smiled like he was sharing a good joke, "Has the power to clear the contents of any computing system on the planet and then magically sweep them into your bin."

"Oh! Broomstick. That's funny."

Clarissa frowned, confused as to why Walter would want the chip so desperately. But, then again, he was 'dead' not nonexistent.

"Take a look, vet it however you'd like, and tell Hannes we'll be taking bids on Monday."

Lula smiled at him, "Thank you."

Merritt suddenly sneezed, "Oh, my God. I must be allergic to something in here."

"What could you possibly be allergic to in here?" 'John' asked, a look of vague disbelief on his face. "This room is hermetically sealed."

"That's it," Merritt sneezed again and pointed. "I'm allergic to hermetic seals."

Clary rolled her eyes and John instructed the guards, "If we could get him away from the computer, please." Merritt commented 'That's the one thing,' as the guards moved him. "Just until he's recovered. We're gonna need some anti-bac...Do we have alcohol wipes? Your hands need to be sterile if you intend to get any closer. Do I make myself clear?"

Lula pulled the comb from her hair, leaving it on her shoulder for Jack to take. The others began to mutter confirmation of Merritt's allergy, the man who was _still_ sneezing, as Jack slid underneath the housing. Clary carefully walked around the other side of the block, fingers moving elegantly over the panels.

Jack reappeared, and 'John' looked at him suspiciously, "Search him, please."

Clary walked from around the other side of the holder for the chip, "What's happening? Is something wrong?"

"Didn't we just do that?" Lula added.

Daniel spread his hands as they were pushed to the wall, "Are you serious?"

"Okay. I wanna run full diagnostics on the system."

" _Take off your jacket_."

Jack unbuttoned his jacket, "This is completely unnecessary."

" _Faster_ ," the guard lifted his hands and Jack copied the motion, the chip in his palm. " _Raise up both hands. Let me see your hands. Turn around. Spread your hands._ "

The card moved effortlessly the way Jack wanted it too and he deftly threw it to Daniel.

"Up, up."

"Okay," Daniel said, sliding the card down the sleeve of his jacket. He lifted his arm, trying to wiggle the card until it stopped in the waistband of his pants.

Clarissa was nudged roughly beside Jack and she glared, " _Watch it_."

The guard paused, surprised she spoke the language, " _I'm sorry, ma'am. Please step over there._ "

"That's better," the Sinclair woman grumbled.

Lula was nudged by her own guard as well, " _Over there, thank you_."

"Hey! I can walk on my own." The chip fell to the ground and Lula stepped on it, the card sticking to the sole of her boot and she faked a fall into a guard's arms to grab it, "Whoa!"

" _Don't start any trouble._ "

"Hey!" She looked at Daniel, who shook his head before she saw Clary and threw the card to her. Clary caught it swiftly and slid it past the deep collar of her jumpsuit to curl around her shoulder.

A guard walked over to Clarissa, smoothing his hands over her legs and moving up. When they got a little too close for comfort, she slapped him away and Jack called, "Hands off!"

"Hey!" Lula's voice made Clary look up after she slid the card into the V-neck of her collar as the guard made her move her hair. Lula unclipped her bra from the back of her dress, flipping it to show there was nothing there, "I can do that myself. We just met, man. Handsy, handsy, handsy."

Clary turned to the guard in front of her, "I hope you don't expect me to do that." The man shook his head but motioned for her to pat her torso from her waist up to her neck. The green-eyed woman rolled her eyes but did so, discreetly plucking the chip from her dress, sliding it under her hair.

Lula threw her bra to the ground and whistled at one of the guards with wandering eyes, "Hey! My eyes are up here, man. How do you like it?" She slapped the guard's bottom.

The man walked past Clary and she stopped him, rubbing the back of her neck before patting his shoulder, "I'm sorry about that."

The guard nodded, walking past Merritt who plucked the chip from the guards shoulder and coughed into his palm to attach the wire in his jacket to the chip. Daniel moved his fingertips closer to Merritt's and pulled onto the wire, yanking the chip through the sleeves of the mentalist's jacket into his own hand.

One of the guards immediately began yelling, seeing something suspicious and Daniel was shoved closer to the wall. "Turn around." Daniel, after a few tense moments turned and spread his fingers awkwardly, getting patted down.

"I don't know. Can't trust anybody. I'm good," Daniel moved his jacket and Clary's eyes zeroed in on the pattern of the inside of his jacket.

The guard turned to look at 'John,' "They're clean."

"Do your final checks and get them out of here," 'John' instructed and Lula was shoved forward, making her say 'Oh, we're walking this way again. Yay,' sarcastically.

"I don't speak the language," Lula said slowly and carefully. "See? What did I tell you, man? We didn't have anything."

Merritt looked around nervously and flicked the chip to Clary, who blew a bubble of chewing gum and popped it just as her hands clapped around the chip. Jack frowned, wondering how she got the gum and as soon as she flicked the card onto the back of one of the guards, he patted the man's back, "Thanks, pal. Appreciate that."

" _Five guys from the inside are coming out. Get ready_."

Jack moved the card as they neared the detectors, throwing it backwards. Lula and Daniel failed to catch it and Merritt pretended to dance awkwardly, just managing to catch the chip in his hat, "Something about a big white dance floor, makes me wanna boogie. Hey, thanks for having us. That's great stuff."

Clary smiled elegantly, "His allergy frazzles his mind, don't worry about him."

Jack passed through the detectors, the light flashing green. Clary and Merritt tried to walk forward, only to be stopped.

Merritt pulled off his hat, removing the chip, "Okay. You guys are pretty serious about your security, huh?"

Daniel passed through and Lula paused, "Do I have all my things? I feel like I came in with more stuff. Did I come in with more stuff?" After a few phrases in Chinese, Lula was nudged through the metal detectors too.

Clary grabbed the chip, slipping into her palm as Jack walked to the guard that took his wallet, "Uh, sir, I think you still have my wallet. Remember, I, uh, gave it to you when I came in? It would be nice to leave with it."

Clarissa went to throw the card but realised that if she did, the guards would see her so she deftly tossed the chip back to Merritt. He didn't fumble but the Mentalist glared at her for a second in a 'warn me next time' manner.

"Wallet coming through." As soon as he spoke, Jack reached his hand out, Daniel hit a gong with his belt, Merritt threw the chip low to the ground and Clary angled her body in front of the nearest guard to block his view. Lula caught the chip in her coat and looked around with a small smile on her face.

"Sorry, my belt," Daniel apologized and Merritt got up from where he was faking fixing his shoelace. Both Clarissa and Merritt walked through the metal detectors one at a time and retrieved their items.

"Uh…guess that's everything, right? Thank you." Lula looked to Daniel, "That is not a _toy_ , Buffy."

"Sorry," Daniel apologized with a wave and the Horsemen dashed from the building, throwing themselves into the car waiting for them.

Clary breathed out a breath, glancing at Lula and Jack. The backseat only had three spots for passengers so she sat almost on Jack's lap. Her next words made all the Horsemen laugh at the twenty-five-year-old.

"God, I missed the _rush_!"

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **Hi reader!**

 **Longer chapter for you guys, thought you deserved it.**

 **Shout out to** **Papercrane26 for always being a supportive reader, although I'm an absolutely horrible updater. You're a mega dweeb and I'm a bit insulted that you haven't asked if I'm going to Comic Con or not.**

 **And sorry I lied, Charles did not make an appearance - I actually have no cool how I'm going to incorporate Charlie in. Have no fear, it will be done.**

 **I'm also trying something new and I would love if you could do it. To get the next chapter I would really appreciate _5_** ** _REVIEWS_** **and if possible a review that has one of these four things, not just 'I liked this chapter, it was good':**

 **1) Something you particularly liked.**

 **2) Something that I should work on.**

 **3) Something you want to see in the next chapter.**

 **4) Any questions you have about me or my story.**

 **I'd love it if it was possible to see 5 reviews for the next chapter to be posted, if I don't I'll post it anyway but this will motivate me to get it done sooner.**

 **Much love from a writer who is extremely grateful for her readers,**

 **~ Raven**


	6. CHAPTER 5

_**Drowning**_

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

* * *

 **This chapter is dedicated to** ** _IamTheDoctorsDaughter (love the username, by the way!)_** **for pointing out a mistake in the last chapter. I fixed it, hopefully it flows better. And I also took your thoughts into account and hopefully this chapter shows a softer side to Clary where her flaws and fears impact her magic.**

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 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO _NicoleR85_ , _Amber0522_ , _jessica02_ , _IamTheDoctorsDaughter_ AND _Papercrane26_ FOR THE AMAZING REVIEWS. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE ADVICE, I HOPE YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER!**

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The taxi twisted through the bustling streets of Macau, Daniel and Clarissa in the back seat of the vehicle. Clary didn't trust that who they were meeting to hand the chip over to was actually the Eye, so she had tagged along. They were going to be dropped off by the other Horsemen in Hannes' car but Clary had asked if they could get a taxi to the meeting point and Daniel agreed, knowing that she wanted to find a way to contact Charles without Walter necessarily knowing. The newly-purchased phone was also pressed to her ear and she was waiting anxiously for the phone to be picked up.

" _Hello?_ " Joan's voice filtered through the phone and Clary gave a sigh of relief.

"Joan."

The woman was an angel – Clary was sure of it. She was a really nice woman with such a big heart, so willing to help people and to put her whole-hearted trust into them. They had become friends almost instantly and she had helped Clarissa so much with Charles.

Joan gasped, " _Oh my God, Clary! You can't just disappear like that and call me days later. I was so worried!_ "

"I know, I'm sorry," Clary apologized, staring out the window. She switched to French, " _Is Charlie okay? Are you both okay? No one's come to take you both?_ "

The American on the line answered in French as well, getting the hint that there was someone with Clary, " _We're both okay._ "

" _Thank God._ "

" _Clary_ ," Joan's voice was tense. " _What's happening? Who took you?_ "

The Sinclair woman shook her head, even when she knew Joan couldn't see her, " _No, Joan. I promised you_ and _myself that I wouldn't drag you into this – this is to protect you. Just…tell Charlie I love him more than anything in the world and that I promise I'm coming home soon._ "

Joan sighed, " _What did I do to deserve you? Okay, I'll tell him but he already knows. He loves you too, Clary, you know that. Come home in one piece, okay, we can't lose you?_ "

" _Promise_." Clarissa ended the call, biting her lip. The woman caught the tear that rolled down her cheek before Daniel saw it, just as the taxi pulled to a stop.

"Ready?" Daniel asked quietly and Clary cracked a small smile.

"As I'll ever be."

They got out of the taxi, heading into the Taipa marketplace. It was full of men and women talking, cooking and shopping. Daniel stood, playing with his fingers and Clary was beside him, tugging at her handcuff bracelet.

"Atlas, hey. Riss, why are you here?"

Dylan Rhodes was pushing his way through the crowd of people.

"Dylan."

"Papa."

"I blew it, I'm sorry. Riss, how did they drag you into this?"

Clary gripped her father's hand, "They threatened Charlie. But…what are you doing here?"

Dylan squeezed his daughter's hand, "I'm here to help now."

"Okay, we definitely don't need your help," Daniel interrupted.

"I know I messed up, all right?" Dylan asked, hurt by Daniel's words. He wanted to protect the Horsemen and now, his daughter, who had been dragged into this life again.

"Yeah, you put everybody's lives in danger."

Clary narrowed her eyes at the Atlas man, "No. _You_ put everyone in danger, don't turn this back on my father."

"Where is everybody?"

"Where is everybody?" Daniel repeated and looked around Dylan. "I can't be seen with you, actually, right now."

"I got it now, okay?" Dylan tried to take control of the Horsemen again. "I appreciate you taking the time to take control for a little while."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, but I got it now, all right?"

"You do?"

"Yeah."

Daniel eyed the Rhodes man, "You look like you can get some rest, buddy."

"Who you meeting here?" Dylan asked seriously, protectively nudging Clarissa behind him.

"I'm not meeting anybody."

Dylan followed after Daniel, "They told me at Iong's you were meeting somebody."

"At Iong's?" Daniel gave a strangled chuckle, "Okay, yeah, no, I am, um…I'm meeting somebody from the Eye. Yeah, no, they agreed to meet me to exchange this computer chip for our lives back." Daniel showed his former leader the chip, "So that's what it's come to now. I hope you're happy with the situation you've put us in."

"You're talking to the Eye?"

"Yeah."

Dylan's frown deepened, "Why are you talking to the Eye? Atlas. _Atlas_ , give me the stick."

The Atlas man pushed his hands to his eyes before he swung around, "Dylan, you're not our leader anymore, okay? _Clary_ isn't even our leader anymore – she's more like an assistant. You're not our hero. You're not FBI. You're not a magician. You're not really anything. And we trusted you for a year." Clary's jaw tightened as Daniel continued, "So if you really wanna help us…If you really…If you really wanna help us, you would leave."

Dylan was silent for a moment before he muttered, "Yeah. Cool. Bye. Come on, Riss."

Clarissa followed after Dylan, shooting Daniel a hurt look. She turned to her father, "I don't think he's speaking to the Eye."

"He's not," the Rhodes man informed her, stopping to pull Clary behind a stall out of sight. "I think that whoever kidnapped you and is asking for the Horsemen to do a job wants you to think you can get help."

"So, Daniel's in trouble. We have to go help him!"

The two made their way back, watching nervously as Daniel was hit and forced down to his knees. He finally moved to give Walter's men the chip and Dylan shoved his way forward, pushing Daniel against the wall. "Dylan!"

"Wait, leave them!" Walter instructed his men as Clary pushed through the group as well and moved to his father and her friend.

"You really think I'm gonna walk away from you? Give us the stick!"

Clary sneered, "Did you really think we'd let _you_ order us around? A nobody, street-magician. Give us it!"

"All right. Don't ever question me again," Clarissa watched Dylan slid the chip back into Daniel's jacket as he shoved him through a door. "Beat it!"

Clary locked the door and turned to Walter. "So, the stick."

"Go to hell," Dylan snarled.

"And stay there," Clary added.

"Boys," Walter said but both Shrikes were already shoving themselves past the men. Dylan flung a fish bowl into one of the men's faces and Clary used a woman's scarf to drag one of the other men to the ground, unconscious, and slid the material around the man swinging at her and tossing him onto the other man.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Dylan apologized and Clary looked up to see a woman snatching her purse back off him and he went flying into a table.

Clary turned back around just in time to dodge a punch and slip down to the ground, taking out the legs of the man. Two others ran at her and Clarissa jumped back, flicking the ends of the scarf around the men's hand and sending them tumbling into a table.

"There's like ten of you," Walter commented. "Come on, they're just doing tricks."

The Sinclair woman grabbed a broom close to her and broke it over her knee, spinning the two pieces of wood around her hands like Escrima Sticks. She pushed the weapon into the back of one of the men's neck, the man crumpling to the ground. Clary ran, dashing towards a shawl she saw nearby; she snatched it and dove 'through' a mirror. One of Walter's men lurched at her with a battle cry and ran headlong into the mirror she was on the other side off.

"Back off!" Clarissa cried at the four men circling her but they ignored her, attacking. Clary spun the shawl at one, throwing him across the room and throwing another through a window. Clary continued to fend of the other men badly, the number of the men far outnumbering her and she was having trouble. Seeing her father run past and Clary pulled out a few cards she'd found in her pocket; the Sinclair woman threw the cards, slicing at Walter's men's faces.

"Papa!" Clarissa suddenly yelled, seeing her father get tossed down the stairs and hit over the head by Walter. The second of distraction was enough for a glass bottle to be smashed over Clary's head and for the woman to be dragged into unconsciousness. Everything that could be used as a weapon was ripped from the unconscious woman and she was tossed into a van.

 **XXXXX**

Clarissa gave a small groan of pain as her eyes began to blink open. Her arms were bound together by handcuffs and there were men holding onto her, keeping her upright. Dylan was already awake, sighing in relief as he saw his daughter waking up.

"So, this is the man and his daughter who spent a lifetime plotting against me." Clary's blurry eyes snapped to an old man in a white suit. _Arthur Tressler_. "I wouldn't have known your face if it had been on a billboard outside my bedroom window. But you have spent, what, thirty years thinking about mine? And forced your daughter to do so too."

"When my father died, your insurance company denied my mother her claims."

"I wouldn't even have known…" Arthur interrupted.

"She died a pauper!"

"…who your mother was. She was a digit, a nanobyte in a stream of data."

Dylan scowled, "Because nothing is personal to you and everyone and everything is just a number, isn't that so?"

"Numbers make the world spin 'round," Clary mused. "Especially the ones in the bank account."

"That is where you are wrong, Mr. Rhodes, Miss Sinclair," Arthur moved away. "Once you made yourself known it became very personal. My son…"

"Yeah, the sociopath."

"The one who takes pictures of people in their sleep. Yeah, we know him."

Arthur looked reasonably proud of himself, standing beside Walter, "Funny thing is, I have seven so-called legitimate children. Sniveling, snobbish, stupid runts."

"Identical to you, I suppose."

The Tressler man ignored Clary's words and put his hand on Walter's shoulder, still talking. "I have one illegitimate child who is a lot like me. The point is, he wants something, and like any good parent, which I know you understand, I will stop at nothing to get it for him. Your Horsemen have it. You will turn it and them over to us, now."

"No."

"Not a chance."

The men immediately began to punch Dylan and Clary cried out, trying to tug her arms out of the grip of the men. "Let him go!"

"Dylan, I would like you to really take this moment in because this is the consequence of your personal vendetta come to life and staring you in the face," Walter snarled into Dylan's face. "I want you to know that when you're gone, we're not going to stop. We're gonna destroy everything you believe in, starting with your daughter, then the Horsemen, and ending with the Eye."

Clary shook, trying to get away again as her father wheezed. She loved him dearly and seeing him in pain, destroyed her. But she couldn't get away or tell him not to believe Walter, because, honestly, she knew that Walter was capable of everything he said he could do.

"Now then, cast your mind back to standing by the banks of the river watching your father descend, disgraced and discredited. The horrid psychic pain as you have relived for years. I felt that same thing two years ago as you drained not just my father's fortune, but his dignity!" Walter's voice rose and Dylan gave a grunt of pain. Two men dragged a blanket off a square object and Dylan and Clary stared wide-eyed at Lionel Shrike's safe. "And yet you took pleasure from it. This should bring back some childhood memories."

A man opened the door of the safe and Dylan was shoved towards it, Clarissa shouting out in fear. Tears ran down her face as Walter added, "And now, your daughter will feel the same pain as you."

Clary had an extreme phobia of water – her grandfather had drowned after all – and she had nightmares of the depthless darkness that could swallow her in a second. Clary froze, unable to do a single thing to get her out of this situation. She couldn't swim and was most terrified of losing people she loved to something she couldn't fight – the water. And now, her worst nightmare was coming to life.

Dylan struggled as Clarissa screamed abuse in French and English, begging for them to let her father go. She lost all the air in her lungs as the men dragged her to railing. Clary sobbed loudly, met the terrified eyes of her father and was promptly thrown overboard. No amount of tricks could get her out of this, her limbs were numb, trapped behind her back by metal and the cards in her pocket felt like they were burning. But Clary couldn't do a thing. Her last image of her father was his desperation to get away as they slammed the safe door shut.

The water engulfed her head as she hit the water like a brick. Clary tried to hold her breath for as long as she could but her lungs soon began to burn. She flailed as well as she could with her hands cuffed, legs moving sluggishly in the water as she dragged her way to the top. Her head broke the water and she threw herself to the side as the safe with Dylan in it plummeted down. The chain connected to the safe swung out and hit Clary in the temple.

And the world became dark.

 **XXXXX**

Clarissa Sinclair often wondered what death was like as a teenager.

Her mother had been ripped from her in a single accident and it had soured the idea of death for the young girl. Clary had never been _fond_ of death but once she had hit thirteen, she'd accepted that it was inevitable. But she had never expected it to come so soon. But Clary had to live; Charles, Joan, her father and the Horsemen needed the Sinclair woman and she needed them.

It was just a matter of _air_.

 **XXXXX**

Clary's body fell down beside her father's on the bottom of the river, lifeless-looking and void of oxygen. The water splashed as Daniel swam through the gloomy water, catching sight of his friends.

The brain could be without oxygen for five minutes. How long had Dylan been in the water? How long had Clary been?

Daniel gripped onto Clarissa, knowing that Dylan would want her to be saved first. Jack suddenly jumped into the water, swimming down and taking Clary from Daniel and the Atlas man grabbed Dylan. Both men swam up to the surface and Jack clutched onto Clary like a lifeline, like he was the one drowning.

Daniel flopped Dylan onto the bank, the Horsemen crying, "Dylan! Clary!"

Clary looked worse off, bleeding from the temple and looked lifeless. Jack had managed to get her handcuffs off and was rocking her gently. The Wilder man placed her down to press his hand to her chest in compressions, "Clary…Clary, please wake up." He half-turned to look at Dylan, "Dylan, come on, buddy, breathe!"

Daniel pressed onto Dylan's chest and he got up with a start, expelling water from his lungs. He breathed heavily, weakly chuckling. Within a second, the Rhodes man was looking frantically for his daughter, " _Riss_? Where's Riss!?"

Jack didn't say a word, continuing compressions until Clary turned her head, coughing up water. The pickpocket pulled her up into his arms, clutching her desperately. He'd been terrified that Clary was going to die and he couldn't lose her, he loved her too much.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Clary muttered, fingers looping into Jack's shirt and gripped onto him, refusing to let go, even when Dylan pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Jesus, you scared the Hell out of us," Jack sighed, pressing his lips to Clarissa's uninjured temple and cheeks.

Merritt helped Dylan up, "You alright, bro? Clary?"

Clary snickered lightly, despite almost dying and facing her biggest fear, "Never. Going. Swimming. Again. Thank you, Jack, for saving me."

She'd noticed that only Jack and Daniel were wet and how he had not moved away from her side. Daniel and Merritt helped Dylan up, "Thank you!"

The Atlas man looked down, "This is the least I could do."

"No. There's a hell of a lot less you could've done," Dylan corrected.

Lula shook her head, "That was not an option."

Merritt clapped a hand to Dylan's shoulder, "You both took a bullet for us, it was huge."

Jack pulled the chip out of his pocket, "You really did, man."

"Thanks for pulling me out." Dylan turned to Jack next, "Thank you for saving my daughter. Seriously."

Daniel muttered a 'yeah' quietly and Lula added, "You got yourself out and Clarissa was unconscious. We did the easy part. Literally, in my case, I was just standing on the shore while Atlas and Jack jumped down and got you." Dylan chuckled. "I'm serious."

"Hey, you guys," Jack called, noticing that something was off about chip. Clary took it from him gently and pulled at the corner. "Something's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"What?"

"It's fake," Clary supplied, peeling off an outer layer on the chip. "Someone played us. All of this was for nothing." She let out an angry huff and relaxed back into Jack's arms, who gently held her and swiped at the blood near her temple, just happy to have her still breathing beside him.

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! So we got a tiny bit more on the connection between Joan and Clary but I sorta realised I can't really add more on the whole Clary/Charlie dynamic but it will become clearer - promise!**

 **Again: thank you** ** _NicoleR85_ , _Amber0522_ , _jessica02_ , _IamTheDoctorsDaughter_ and _Papercrane26_ for the reviews.**

 ** _5 REVIEWS _****again please for this chapter, including one of these four things:**

 **1) Something you particularly liked.**

 **2) Something that I should work on.**

 **3) Something you want to see in the next chapter.**

 **4) Any questions you have about me or my story.**

 **Feel free to also correct any mistakes in my writing, constructive criticism is always welcome and I will take it into account in my writing.**

 **Love you all, my wonderful readers,**

 **~ Raven**


	7. CHAPTER 6

**_The Tricks_**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

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 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _Papercrane26_** **,** ** _Amber0522_** **,** ** _hogwartswonderland_** **,** ** _CasAteDeansPie_** **,** ** _MusicLovingPunkAnimeGirl_** **AND** ** _TheIndividualist_** **. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, I HOPE THAT YOU'RE NOT TOO DISAPPOINTED THAT THIS CHAPTER MOVES REALLY QUICKLY. I ALSO HOPE THAT HAVE CONTINUED TO FOLLOW THIS STORY, DESPITE MY CRAPPY UPDATING SCHEDULE.**

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"No, I had the stick. The actual stick." Lula walked down the stairs of the large room, the Horsemen spread around it. Clary was wrapped in a blanket along with Jack, Daniel and her father, the Sinclair girl carefully tucked into Jack's side. Since almost drowning, the Wilder man hadn't relinquished his grip on Clarissa. "I swear, it was in my hand, in the lab, and then I put it in the little case thing. And I gave it to Atlas."

"Right, which I then gave to Dylan," Daniel added, sitting on the steps. "Is there any chance you've possibly misplaced it at any point?"

Dylan shook his head, "No, I took it from you and then slipped it back in your coat when I pushed you out."

"Either way, we're left holding a whole sack full of nada," Merritt commented, hands shoved into his pockets.

"Yeah, but they're gonna come after us as if we do have something," Jack reminded the team, his chin on Clary's shoulder.

"No," Lula disagreed pointing a finger at the couple. "Okay. I agree that somebody got the better of us. Okay? Somehow. But I don't agree that we have a sack full of nada. Because we're all here. That's a sack full of something."

Clary raised a brow, "Oh, so optimistic."

Lula ignored her. "Listen, we all know that Walter is not going to stop until he gets that chip. And we're the only ones that even know that he's alive. We can't just walk away. That's not what the Horsemen do."

"There's a quote. Um…" Daniel trailed off for a second and tossed the blanket off his shoulders, getting up. "It's actually by the magician that made me wanna do this in the first place. It's, uh…'A magician's greatest power lies forever shrouded in his empty fist.'"

"'And the very idea that he can convince the world that he is, in fact—'" Dylan continued and Clary smiled gently, finishing the quote.

"—'carrying with him a secret.'"

Dylan grinned back at his daughter and Daniel looked at Dylan, "That's Lionel Shrike."

"Right," Dylan muttered gently.

Jack tightened his grip on Clarissa, "So what are you saying? That we should pretend like we have something we don't?"

"No," Clary shook her head and she glanced at her father, an idea already in her head. "We use it to our advantage that we _do_ have something, just not the chip. What is Walter's greatest fear?"

"Being seen," Merritt answered.

Dylan held up the Fool card in his hands, "And what does the stick do?"

A smile spread over Lula's face, "The stick can un-encode anything. It can open up a back door into any computer on the planet."

"Including his," Jack grinned, pressing a kiss into Clary's hair and tugging her along with him. He sat down at the table and pulled Clary onto his lap, pulling her close against his chest.

"Yeah."

The Rhodes man tossed the card onto the table and Daniel pointed at it, "Right, we not only make him think that we have it, but that we're going to use it to expose and destroy him."

"We need a plan," Dylan stated. "But we don't have time."

"We have each other and there are six of us."

"Don't get mushy with us now, Danny," Clarissa teased and she half-turned to cuddle closer to Jack. She loved the comfort just being close to him brought her and she knew that it would never be the 'right time' and that she needed to tell him the absolute truth.

Lula wrinkled her brows, "But we also need supplies, right? And resources. And probably more than six people."

"Do you really think you don't have help?" Li's grandmother asked, in English, emerging from the shadows, Li behind her.

"Oh, she speaks English," Daniel grumbled. "Of course. Yeah."

Merritt grumbled at Daniel and Clary gave the man a firm look that clearly said _stop talking now_.

The old woman swept up the Fool card, "Do you know why the Fool is the most powerful card in the tarot? Not because the person who draws him is a fool. He's a fool because he's a clean slate, and, therefore, can become anything. You were chosen. All of you.

"Not because of who you are," Li added, "but because of who you might become."

Merritt looked serious for once and pointed at the woman, "When you say 'chosen'…Are you part of the Eye?"

"Yes," Li's grandmother confirmed with a firm nod. "We are part of the Eye. You've each doubted our existence. Wondering if we, indeed, were watching. We are. We always have been."

"This is the best magic shop in the world," Daniel chuckled lightly. "You know what she's saying, right?"

"Yes. That now we have resources and help." Dylan took the woman's hand and whispered, "Thank you."

"So, who's in?" Clary asked with a wide grin and leant forward to grab a teacup. "I definitely am."

Dylan smiled, taking one and Daniel grabbed a cup as well, "I'm in."

"Yeah, I'm in," Lula grabbed a cup.

Clary turned her head to look and Jack and the pair seemed to have a wordless conversation, an openness in the Sinclair woman's expression that told Jack that it was okay to say no, but if he did say yes, he had people with him. He cracked a grin, "Let's do this."

The green-eyed woman pressed a kiss to Jack's cheek and all the Horsemen raised their mugs, saying a " _Cheers_ ," in Chinese and took a drink.

 **XXXXX**

"I'll go with one of the Horsemen," Clary told the group. "That way, if they find out I'm alive, they'll look for my father. If they do, you'll just have to do a good job of not drawing attention to yourself."

Dylan pursed his lips, not happy but he nodded. "Okay. But Riss, stay safe."

"I will, papa." Clary rolled her eyes, "Remember, I'm a grown woman."

 **XXXXX**

Jack stared at the camera, standing alongside Lula, Merritt and Daniel, speaking to their audience – hoping to bait Walter Mabry.

"Not long ago, we were tricked. I was exposed and brought back from the dead."

Clary, from behind the camera, pointed to Lula and the May woman spoke, "So we thought it was only fitting that we do the same thing – to the person who did it to us."

Daniel spoke next, "Midnight, New Year's Eve. London. We will be performing a series of shows that all connect to our big finale, so pay close attention to each trick."

"So leave your kiddies at home," Merritt instructed, "and get ready for a wild night, because we, too, will bring someone back from the dead."

"In front of the largest stage in the world…" Daniel added, wording his sentence just right. "The _actual_ world."

Clarissa grinned behind the camera as the recording finished and she headed towards Jack, tugging him aside without a word. The Wilder man stared down at her, confused, but the confusion was quickly wiped away as soon as Clary meshed her lips to him. Jack had missed it – being near her, touching her, _kissing_ her and he forgot all about Clarissa Sinclair leaving the minute their lips touched.

They stayed close, their foreheads pressed together. Clary loved Jack, she just couldn't say it. It was like it got stuck in her throat the minute her mind thought it and it had been a major contributor of Clary leaving – for _Jack's_ own good – and the Sinclair woman knew that. But still, like a magnet, Clarissa was always drawn to Jack and it usually ended with them kissing or falling into bed together.

The latter had also been a factor of why Clarissa left. Clary kissed Jack again, her fingers tangling in his hair as the Wilder man gripped her hips, drawing her impossibly closer

The brunette woman pulled away and met Jack's dazed expression, seriousness in her voice. " _I need to tell you something_."

 **XXXXX**

Jack walked through the small courtyard, a black cap pulled low over his face and his hand clutching Clary's. Dylan had not wanted his daughter anywhere near the magic but Jack had refused to let Clarissa go ever since she had told him. Dylan watched from a few feet away as Jack bounded up onto a small, wooden stage and helped Clarissa up with him.

"Hello! Hey!" Jack called, taking off his cap and the crowd erupted with gasps and cheers. Clarissa smirked, putting Jack's cap on. "My name's Jack Wilder. Goddamn, it feels good to be back…and with my beautiful girlfriend by my side – _Miss Clarissa Sinclair_." The crowd cooed as Jack pulled Clary close to him and kissed her.

Clary stepped back, blushing lightly, and playfully curtseyed to the crowd. "Nice to meet you all. I'm a magician too but my main job is keeping _this one_ in line." Their audience laughed and Jack pressed a kiss to Clary's hand.

"All right, gather around. Indulge me," Jack requested, looking back to the people watching them. "I wanna talk to you about something real quick. You all know Three Card Monte, also known as 'Find the Lady'?"

"It's a trick performed by street hustlers all over the world. And why street hustlers?" The Sinclair woman's grin became a dangerous smirk, "Because as soon as you walk up to the table, you lose." She winked at the camera in front of her, recording every second of their performance, " _Every time_. This time though, there's going to be a twist, so just look out for it."

"Let me demonstrate." Jack flicked out a card and a sheet of t-shirt fell to the ground, revealing three large playing cards – two Jacks and one Queen. "While we're at it, let's find ourselves a life-sized Queen." He walked into the crowd and found a woman sitting down, "Ma'am, would you mind being my Queen?" Clary raised a brow and coughed lightly, making Jack smile sheepishly, "You know you're always gonna be my Queen, Clary."

The psychologist eyed Jack and finally smiled, her annoyed façade falling, "Better be." She turned to the woman's partner as Jack offered a hand to the woman. "Don't worry, sir. I promise you there's a 50 percent chance you'll get her back after the show. One-hundred-percent if I get my way – which I usually do."

The crowd chuckled, although the man did not look amused and Jack pointed towards the card. "Head over there. Thank you very much."

Clary clapped, "All right. Let's find ourselves some Jacks to serve our Queen!" She turned to her boyfriend with a teasing smirk, "I pick this time."

 **XXXXX**

"Hello, everybody!" Lula called, addressing her own crowd. "Come close, come on! All right, all right, so listen. Tonight, I am going to make something fly using actual magic. Are you ready?" The crowd gave a collective yell of approval. "I'm going to take a very large vessel, I'm gonna make it fly over there and land on the Thames. Can you handle that?"

 **XXXXX**

"Same rules apply as before," Jack yelled to the crowd, the two Jacks and the Queen about to cover themselves with the cards. "All you need to do is keep your eye on the Queen. It's as simple as that."

Clary smirked, "Are you guys ready? I hope you are!"

The crowd gave a loud cheer.

"Turn around," Jack instructed and the Jacks and Queen moved the cards in front of them. "Hide yourselves with the cards. And here we go." Jack tapped the left and middle card, "Switch! You guys still have your eye on her? You want me to go back and do it? Okay, all right."

"We're moving on," Clary tapped the middle and right card. "And switch. Where is she?"

The crowd mumbled, pointing to the left card and Jack put his hands on his hips, "Down at the end? You sure? All right, can I get a drumroll from my man in the back?" The young man on the pot-drum-set did a drumroll. "Thank you very much." The left card moved, revealing a Jack and the Wilder man went to the middle card, revealing another Jack and muttering, "Uh-oh. Uh-oh," each time until he got to the last one. He tapped the card and the Queen stepped out. "There's my girl."

"Excuse me?" Clary asked teasingly and Jack tried to defend himself, turning to the Queen's partner.

"Not my girl, one-hundred-percent your girl. But just in this situation." Jack tugged Clary into his chest, " _You're_ my girl."

"Not for long if you keep going like this, Wilder."

Jack grinned, she didn't deny that she wasn't and despite only _just_ reconciling their relationship, Clary and Jack fell into their old routine. "You love me."

He wanted her to say it, just once – she'd never been brave enough before.

Clarissa pressed a hand to Jack's cheek, "I do."

That was about as close as he was going to get at that moment and Jack and Clary turned back to the trick at hand. Jack smirked, "We're adding something a bit extra – the lovely Clarissa will be chained to _that_ pole over there."

The audience watched as a wide, metal chain was wrapped around Clary's stomach and arms, locked with a heavy padlock that kept her close to the pole. Clary smiled at the people and suggested, "You should watch the trick _very_ carefully, never know when something might just…" She rattled the chains, " _Slip free._ "

 **XXXXX**

"Okay, but I gotta warm up a little bit first. Okay?" Lula announced. "So, uh, let me just make something small fly, like…" The woman proceeded to scare a pigeon away, "Fly, fly, fly!" The crowd gave a disinterested noise, "Wow, right? Look at that! Aw. Come on, people. Tough crowd. You, fly!"

The man Lula pointed at looked confused, "Me?"

"Check your fly." The man unzipped his fly and a white dove flew out, the crowd laughing and clapping. "You like that? You support that relationship? That guy had a bird in his pants. That's disgusting."

 **XXXXX**

Daniel made his way through the rain, a spotlight alerting the crowd of his presence. He grinned, rubbing his hands together. "Okay, well, I guess you found me! I have a confession to make. I've been told I have some control issues." He tilted his head, "I've learned that it's really, really hard to control people and that I shouldn't, by a really good friend of mine." He smiled at the thought of Clary, the girl who was similar to an annoying younger sister to him. "So I'm gonna try to control something that's a lot easier than people. I'm gonna try to control the weather."

The audience cheered and clapped. "Yeah, rain, um…It'd be a little difficult to make it rain, right? That would be something that only God can do, right? I'm gonna do something that God can't do. I'm not just gonna make it clear up. No, no, no. I'm gonna make it actually _stop_." The Atlas man thrust out his hands and the water droplets froze in midair. The crowd went crazy, gasps and cheers exploding. "And can God do that? Mmm. No, I don't think so. Or what about make it go up?" The cheering doubled as Daniel rose a hand and the water droplets began to rise.

 **XXXXX**

"Are you still with us?" Jack asked the audience and they cheered. "Watch the Queen on the left. Let's do it. Turn around." He tapped the middle and right card, "Switch! Show us the lady. Show us the lady!"

The audience motioned to the card on the left and Clary raised her brows, still at the pole, "The end? End? You know what? I'm actually starting to feel kinda bad, how about you, Jack?"

Jack nodded and pushed the left card down, no one behind it, "I am too. It's just because we can actually feel that you guys are paying attention." He knocked the right card over, no one behind that card either. It's just that…You know, it's unfortunate that it's the wrong kind of attention."

The Wilder man pushed down the middle card and instead of the Queen, Clarissa stood there, posed dramatically with a wide smile on her lips. The people began to laugh and cheer, staring at Clary who they were sure had been chained to a pole and had apparently replaced the Queen.

Jack took Clary's hand and the woman laughed, "You let something _slip free_ of your attention!"

 **XXXXX**

"Yeah, we need a fresher bird." Lula produced a dove and cooed at it, "He's so cute. He's so cute! Let's kill him, right?"

The crowd yelled out in disgust and confusion.

 **XXXXX**

" _Merritt, move into position_ ," Dylan instructed Merritt as he walked.

"Got it, Dylan. Uh, I'm on my way. I'll see you there."

" _Lula, stand by, all right_?"

 **XXXXX**

"Or, what about just go, I don't know, just go insane?" The rain shot everywhere, under the control of Daniel, wowing the crowd.

 **XXXXX**

"Hey, broski-whaddya-knowski?" Chase intercepted Merritt, a spring in his step. "Where you headed?"

"Please, bro, don't do this."

"Where are you headed?" Chase repeated, walking backwards in front of Merritt to meet his eyes. "North, south, east? East. Tower of London? Tower Bridge? Near Tower Bridge? The Thames! You're going to the Thamesy-Whemsy! You're so easy!"

"Bro, if there's any chance of us ever having a relationship…" Merritt tried and Chase grabbed his shoulders.

"There's not. Where's your entry? South Bank?" Merritt looked away. "Greenwich? Greenwich. I know where you're going. I know where…" Chase was cut off as a woman in a hat bustled past Merritt and Chase, nudging the latter into a hooded man. "Watch it, hobo."

Merritt stalked away, shooting looks over his shoulder at his smiling twin.

 **XXXXX**

"Hey, Merritt," Dylan greeted, speaking to Merritt on the phone. "Oh, come on. Tell me you're kidding. How? When? Shit. All right. All right, I got it. Don't worry about it. I'll warn the others."

 **XXXXX**

"Sorry. Just…" Lula apologized as she struggled to pull the dove's head off. She finally succeeded and the crowd shifted in disgust. "What? I just told you…" The woman stopped as her phone rang, "Phone call. Hello?"

" _Lula_."

"Dylan," the dark-haired woman chuckled. "Ah, yeah, kind of in the middle of something right now."

" _Wrap it up. Meet me at the rendezvous point now_."

"What?"

" _Now_!" Dylan repeated and hung up.

 **XXXXX**

"Was that an act of God?" Daniel asked the people gathered around them and the rain began to pour again. "No. No, no, no, that was an act of me. And the strobe lights and rain machines. And I hope you guys were paying attention. Because you're gonna need to know all of that for the final."

 **XXXXX**

"So how did we do it?" Jack called. "Did we use a Barry Trap? Maybe some switches or a few duplicates?"

" _Jack, Riss, go now_!"

Clary flicked her hair, "You know what? I hate to say it but you're gonna have to wait to find out."

The crowd began to grumble and Clary watched, the FBI shoving through the people to get to her and Jack.

"I know. I'm sorry," Jack apologized, pulling a pack of cards out of his pocket. "I'm sorry. We love you all."

The dark-haired man looped his arm around his girlfriend's waist and tugged her into his chest, flicking the entire deck of cards into the air. When the cards fluttered to the ground, both Clarissa Sinclair and Jack Wilder were gone.

 **XXXXX**

" _Lula, go_!"

"I have to go," Lula told the audience and 'reattached' the dove's head to it's body. The dove flew off and Lula shook her coat, doves flying from her jacket into the air before she ran off and Lula May was gone.

 **XXXXX**

Daniel flicked on the hood of his jacket and extended his arms, letting his body fall to the ground. When his body hit the ground, all that was left was his jacket and Daniel Atlas was gone.

 **XXXXX**

"Again? How did we get found out again?"

"It's fine, it's fine," Dylan reassured Daniel. "We'll just cut to the finale."

Clary scoffed, hopping onto the motorcycle beside Jack's, "This is anything _but_ fine!"

"Where's Merritt?"

Merritt ran over, "I'm here."

"Where's Lula?" Clary asked in worry, glancing around.

"I'm right here!" Lula yelled, coming into view. "What the hell happened?"

"My goddamn brother happened," Merritt growled.

Dylan secured his helmet strap, "Don't worry about it. We just gotta get to the destination. Lula, can you handle that thing?"

"I can ride it," Lula retorted. "Have you asked the guys that question, or just me? What about Clary?"

"Yeah, good point," Dylan muttered. "I didn't need to ask Riss, I taught her how to ride."

Jack rode off, "Let's go!"

"No, Jack."

A man in a van shot at Jack, "Shit!"

" _Jack's down. We gotta get him_."

Somehow, during their 'escape,' Clary had started throwing cards, had missed Jack fighting against a group of men, Merritt failing to ride a bike, Lula _exploding_ her bike and every single member of the Four Horsemen (including Dylan and Clary) had been detained and shoved into a van.

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **Ahhh! A kiss! A flipping Jack/Clary kiss! I got a lot of requests for one and I hope I did it justice for a girl who has never been kissed. So...essentially, I had no idea what I was writing. Kay? Kay.**

 **I'm currently only at Chapter 6 but I also think that this story will also be a lot shorter than the first one. Sorry...But next chapter is going to be slightly more dramatic and probably the last chapter too, so look out for that.**

 **Hey, anybody like the Percy Jackson books, the Heroes of Olympus ones in particular? I'm writing a Jason Grace fic, so tell me what you wonderful readers think. Interested, not?**

 **Please, five reviews for the next chapter! Love you all, my wonderfully, terrific readers!**

 **~ Raven**


	8. CHAPTER 7

**_The Finale_**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles 'Charlie' a character that will be introduced throughout the story.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _Amber0522_** **,** ** _CasAteDeansPie_** **,** ** _MusicLovingPunkAnimeGirl_** **AND** ** _TheIndividualist_** **. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! THERE IS ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT AND I'M DYING!**

* * *

Arthur Tressler and Walter Mabry sat in front of the team. They were all handcuffed and Lula stared, wide-eyed at the older man.

"Ah!" Chase pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head. "Okay, feeling fear. Fear. Anger, anger, anger. Oh, full house!"

Tressler looked blankly ahead, "That's enough."

"I was done."

"So nice to see you all again." Tressler looked between each other the Horsemen. "But since we're such old friends, let's skip the formalities. One of you has something we require. So give it over." They stayed silent and Dylan rubbed at his eye with his middle finger.

"Nothing at all?" Walter demanded. "Really?"

Daniel snorted lightly and Clary shrugged in a bored fashion. Dylan got up with a start but was shoved back into his seat by the guard and a snarled, "Sit down!"

 **XXXXX**

The group of six, Walter, Tressler, Chase and Tressler's men were driven in the van into a warehouse.

"Let's go, let's go! Let's go, let's go!" Walter yelled. "Hurry up and move them quickly before they can do anything."

A man shone a torch beam into Tressler's face and he growled, "Get those lights off me!"

The team were pushed and tugged harshly out of the van, shoved onto the plane without a chance to get away. Dylan was shoved into the seat closest to Tressler, Lula beside him. Jack and Clary were shoved into two seats facing each other on one side of the plane, Merritt and Daniel on the other.

"Yeah, uh, take off immediately," Walter ordered his pilot and he turned his attention to Dylan after he hung up. "You know, you make it almost too easy? I mean, even your hilarious attempts to make yourselves unpredictable, just follow the same pattern each time. Set up, set up, set up. Big reveal. Which tonight was going to be stroke of midnight, middle of the Thames? Tell me if I'm warm." Daniel glanced away, not meeting Walter's eyes. "Well, there will be a big reveal, and it will come now."

"The stick, dear boy," Tressler stared at Dylan.

" _No_."

"Fine." Walter looked at Clary. "Start with her – his _daughter_."

One of the guards pointed a blade to Clary's neck, holding her to her seat. Jack and Dylan leapt up, both held back by the guards as Clarissa let out a frightened yell.

Dylan looked at Daniel with a pleading look, "Give it to him."

Daniel looked to Clary, the woman he respected more than anyone on the plane and she shook her head, almost unnoticeable to Daniel if he hadn't looking for her answer.

"Danny, give him the card," Lula told the Atlas man and he didn't move.

"Just give it to him," Dylan almost begged, even as Clarissa shook her head.

" _Don't_ , Danny."

Jack met Clary's eyes, "Danny, come on.

Daniel moved slowly, pulling the card from his sleeve and giving it to Walter. The guard with the knife moved away and Jack was shoved back into his seat.

"We'll have a closer look."

The look on Jack's face immediately told Clary that he wasn't happy, accompanied by his words. "You were going to leave us."

"I was going to _protect_ you," Clary corrected and she smiled gently, despite the situation. "I love you, Jack and I love this team."

The Wilder man's dark eyes widened. Of all the time, of all the times to say those three words and she chose _now_. Jack shook his head and answered in the only way he could, "I love you too."

"Okay, I owe you an apology," Dylan turned to Daniel and they all began to bicker.

"Leader, you should have planned an escape, okay?"

"This is the both of us."

"Okay, it's the both of us."

"Guys, come on!"

"Come on, stop!" Jack grumbled.

"You, to save your little girlfriend!"

"Yes! To save my girlfriend, who is Dylan's daughter and like a sister to you!" Jack retorted. "He had a knife to her head!"

"All right, you know what?" Merritt interrupted. "This is not the time!"

"And you," Lula turned to Merritt. "What's your deal, man?"

"Look, they're not gonna get blood all over the seats. They're probably gonna throw us out of the plane."

"Really?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Walter jumped in, "but I just have to say congratulations. And thank you! It's real."

"What?" Lula whispered. "It's real?"

"Bring them through."

The team were dragged to the back of the plane, muttering along the way.

"Did you say it's real?"

"What is he talking about?"

"Move!" One of the guards demanded.

Tressler patted Walter's shoulder, "Well done, my boy." Chase clapped his hand and Tressler picked up a bottle of champagne, "Cote Du Marisule champagne. It's the most expensive bottle on Earth. One-point-two million dollars. And I saved it just for this occasion."

"Honestly, same bottle, Liquor Shack, seven-hundred-k," Merritt said sarcastically.

"Hey." Walter looked up at Dylan. "You got what you wanted. So, does this mean you're letting us go?"

"Knowing what you know about us?" Walter shook his head, "No."

"You sure?"

The Mabry man turned to the other McKinney twin, "Chase, what shall we do?"

"Toss them out." Chase pressed the button on the wall which opened a hatch in the bottom of the wall.

"Get your last words in quickly, everybody!"

Dylan lunged at Walter but the entire team struggled as they were dragged towards the hatch.

"Farewell."

"No! Wait!" Merritt cried. "I just wanna say…I came into the world with the wrong family, but I'm leaving with the right one. I love you guys!"

"No, no, no!" Lula yelled.

"Merritt!"

"This is how I kicked you out of the womb," Chase muttered and he kicked Merritt out of the plane and the team screamed, 'No!'

Dylan was pushed forward next and Clarissa let out a scream. "Papa! No!" Clary sobbed, pressing her body back into Jack's who tried to hold onto her. The guards shoved her to the hatch, "I love you!"

And then Clarissa Sinclair was shoved out of the plane as Lula, Daniel and Jack yelled out her name.

 **XXXXX**

After all of the Horsemen were tossed out, they waited for the exact time and then pressed their faces to the windows, laughing and waving at the shocked looks on Tressler and Walter's face.

"Come on. Come on out," Dylan prompted and Walter and Tressler got up, exiting the plane.

" _Ladies and gentlemen…The Horsemen_!" The announcer yelled as Clary hugged her family, kissed Jack and they all waved to the crowds.

"No, you should feel pretty good about yourself, man," Daniel told Walter as he peeked his head out of the plane. "You predicted it correctly. The Thames, stroke of midnight. New Year's Eve. Happy New Year!"

Walter and Tressler hurried off the plane, only to be grabbed by the security there.

"Wow! Thank you very much, London!" Daniel called. "We would like to acknowledge not just our old friend, Arthur Tressler. But his young and very brilliant son, Walter Mabry. Who has performed one of the greatest feats of illusion even we have ever seen. He has, amazingly, brought himself back from the dead!"

Merritt took over, "But before he did that, he revealed someone. And we think it only right to give him a proper introduction."

Daniel smiled widely, "He is our friend and he is our leader. Dylan Shrike!"

"And," Jack added, pulling Clary close to him. "We'd like to introduce Dylan's daughter, Clarissa Shrike!"

"Get over here, papa!" Clary yelled, tugging on her father's hand and pushing him forward.

"Yeah!"

Dylan turned, pressing a kiss to Clary's head and half-hugged Daniel as he stepped forward. "So, normally only the magician, his assistant, and a few trusted stage hands know the secret of a trick. But tonight, however, in this effect, all of you people around the Thames here. And since we're streaming live, everyone around the world already knows everything. And only these fellows here are the ones left in the dark. So let's see how closely you were watching our shows."

"Remember when we were playing 'Find the Lady,' and I said that we used a Barry Trap," Jack began. "Some classic switches and a few duplicates?"

 _The Jacks were twins and they swapped where they were positioned. The Queen crawled out of a small trapdoor to move around the behind the cards._

"Well, that's how we switched the driver of the truck."

 _Li hurried out of the room and knocked out the driver of the truck, taking over his role._

"Which took us to a duplicate hangar where we used your need to rush, and your fear of being seen let you do the work for us."

 _"_ _Get those lights off me!" Arthur yelled, walking towards the plane, the flashlight beams shining into his face_.

"So, the airplane. How did we get it to fly?" Lula did quotations around the word 'fly.'

"Well, we used fans, and lights and rain machines," Daniel explained.

 _Lula was shoved out of the plane, almost squashing Clary and the pair burst into laughter, helping each other up before Jack was tossed out to land on them._

"Obviously, all of this was reliant on us getting caught," Jack grinned. "But we needed to make sure that you would do exactly what we needed you to do once you did catch us."

Merritt stepped forward, "My brother Chase, who was technical adviser to the losing team. He taught us that it's all about blind spots. I know where you're going! And, uh, surprises." Merritt clapped Jack's shoulder.

 _"_ _Watch it, hobo," Chase grumbled after Clary shoved him into Jack and Jack got up, hypnotizing the McKinney man._

 _"_ _Why don't you watch the watch I'm wearing, the where of where you're watching, and sleep!" Chase's head flopped onto Jack's shoulder as Clary kept him standing. "It's going to be your idea to throw the Horsemen out of the plane."_

"We showed them everything," Clary stated, standing beside Jack near the bottom of the stairs. "How you kidnapped us to steal the very thing that is in your pocket right now."

"Whoops!"

Merritt pointed to the chip, "You know, this thing here, which you said you could use to adjust markets, manipulate governments, and spy on whomever you choose."

"Also, you could, as you said, control the public from outside the grid," Lula added.

"These men," Dylan indicated them, "destroy people's lives. Spying on the world, robbing you of your right to privacy. And they do that by hiding in the dark."

Clary continued speaking, "By attacking you when you least expect it, when you don't even _know_ that this technology is even there to harness against the public. So, in the Horsemen tradition, we're here to expose them."

"Tonight, they, like all of us, are finally stepping into the light." The crowd erupted into cheers and whistles at Dylan's words and the Horsemen waved at the audience.

"Thank you, everybody! We are the Horsemen and we will be back very soon!"

The audience counted down to the New Year and the Horsemen were wrapped in a group hug. Fireworks exploded over head and Clarissa smiled up at them. The crowd yelled louder and hooted as Jack pulled Clary in for a kiss, Daniel and Dylan coming over to separate them.

"Jack…" Clary whispered, noticing a black-haired woman with a square fringe, a baby in her arms. "I'll be back."

Clarissa walked over to the gate and smiled at the woman, "I thought I told you not to come, Joan."

The woman, Joan, smiled, "I missed you. Charles missed you."

And Clary reached for the baby, taking the little boy from her friend, "Hello, Charlie."

Lionel Charles Wilder giggled, the little boy reaching for his mother. Clary's heart melted, every aspect of her being wanting to fold into to protect her baby from the lights and the fireworks. What if a fan got free of the barricade? What if Clary dropped him? What if—"Clary, stop it." The green-eyed woman jerked her head up to look at Joan. "You're safe, your son is safe. Stop worrying."

Clary let out a breath, "I always did like the name 'Joan' for you."

Joan was the name often given to the High Priestess tarot card, much like Stella was for the Star card.

"I do too," Joan muttered and reached out a hand to run over Charles' head. "I loved looking after this little one, but I'm going to disappear again. So, this is goodbye. I love you."

"I love you too and thank you…" Clarissa smiled and whispered, " _Henley_."

Henley turned around with a grin and disappeared into the crowd, Clary walking back over to the plane. Jack took one look at the bundle in Clarissa's arms and his smile was so wide it almost split his face.

"Jack Wilder," Clary placed the baby into his father's arms, "meet Lionel Charles Wilder but call him Charlie, he likes it better." As if to prove her point, Charlie gave a happy gurgle and Jack stepped forward to kiss Clary. "I love you."

"I love you too."

 **XXXXX**

During the entire car-ride, Charlie slept in his father's arms.

Clary huffed, "Likes me; absolutely _loves_ you."

Jack laughed quietly, careful not to wake his son. His _son_. The second Clary had told him, he had forgotten ever being upset that she had left and instead focused on the fact that Clarissa had been pregnant while Jack had been a part of the Four Horsemen and she had disappeared to protect their child from life as a fugitive. _Their child_ , Jack would never get tired of that. "Not my fault Charlie's a daddy's boy."

"He's more of a _grandpa's_ boy really, Wilder," Dylan piped up, leaning over to stroke a finger down Charles' face.

The little baby shifted in his sleep and Lula cooed, completely taken with the youngest Wilder. Merritt was a bit nervous around Charlie, worried that he would accidently hurt him when he held him but Clarissa's reassurances made him feel more comfortable about Jack and Clary's daughter. Daniel had already found out about Charlie a few months back, the man being nosy and he'd been named an honorary godfather along with Merritt. Henley, or Joan, had helped Clary through her entire pregnancy and had been named godmother the second Clary had given birth.

The car pulled up in front of the building, all getting out. Jack held onto Charles with one arm, his other hand clutching Clary's hand. The Sinclair— _no_ , the _Shrike_ woman smiled fondly at Jack and Charlie, reaching out her left hand to run a hand over Charlie's head, the diamond ring on her finger flashing in the sunlight as she did so.

"Hey, guys," Li greeted and he received a chorus of 'hey!' in return. "Good to see you all."

"Good to see you, Li," Daniel told the man and Clary moved away from her fiancé to hug the man.

"Come on in."

"Good morning. Welcome," Li's grandmother smiled at the group and Clary carefully looped her arm with Jack's, making sure not to bump their child. "I'm proud of you. All of you. I have a lot to show you. Come. Come."

The team followed the woman but Dylan walked away. Clary frowned, "Papa?"

Dylan smiled reassuringly at his daughter and motioned for her to follow Jack. The adults looked around the room, finding pictures of them from the entirety of the two years they were a part of the Eye, including one of Clary, fresh out of labor, a bundle in her arms and a woman beside her. _Henley_. Henley had gotten out of the Eye and the Eye had notified Clary, letting the woman know so that she could look out for her. The Reeves woman moved to Paris, having loved it when she had been there as a Horseman and Clary had found her, had offered her a home, a new identity and a part of Clary and Jack's son's life.

"Hey, guys, uh, you might wanna come take a look at this," Daniel told them, picking up pictures of Dylan on the phone and himself walking around in a hood. Pictures lined the walls, photos of all their tricks and a video of Walter Mabry and Arthur Tressler struggling in the grips of the guards. The video of the Octa show, along with a model of the stage sat on the table. Folders labelled with _Personnel_ , _Logistics_ and _Vehicles._ A folder at the bottom was labelled _Clarissa Shrike's Plans_ sat at the very top and Jack chuckled, pressing a kiss to his fiancée's temple.

Li and his grandmother sat back as they watched the Horsemen look over the pictures and the model plans of their tricks.

Lula looked up suddenly, seeing 'John' in front of her, pouring himself a cup of tea. Her eyes went wide and she slapped a hand to Merritt's stomach, the team looking up.

"Darling!" Clary greeted, sweeping around the table to give the man a hug. She had been aware that he was a member of the Eye but other than that, she honestly had no idea who he was.

"Clarissa," the man hugged her back and pulled away, picking up his teacup. "Now I know why you look so familiar. You're the Horsemen, aren't you?" He winked and took a sip of his tea, walking away.

Merritt stared blankly after him and Lula and Jack chuckled, Daniel rubbed at his head and muttered, "Okay."

Clary laughed, "I told you they were always here for us."

 **XXXXX**

Clarissa bounced into the room that her father and _Thaddeus Bradley_ were in. Her eyes went wide and she gasped out, "Hi. Am I, uh, interrupting?"

Thaddeus smiled and shook his head and Clary smiled back. She glanced at her father, seeing a photo frame in his hand, containing a picture of Thaddeus and Lionel Shrike.

"Okay, so, um…" Daniel burst into the room, along with the other Horsemen. "Well, obviously, we have a few questions. Right?"

"Uh... By 'a few,' I think he means, like, five million," Merritt corrected.

"Yeah."

"Well," Thaddeus said. "Good luck to you all." The team burst into mutters as Thaddeus walked to the door. "Oh, um, by the way…Pay no attention to the curtain."

He indicated a curtain in the corner of the room and their attention all snapped to the curtain. Thaddeus left and Merritt commented, "There is a curtain."

"Go, go, go!"

Dylan swept aside the curtain to reveal a door and Jack grinned at Clary, tightening his grip on Charlie. Clary smiled back and kissed Jack, their lips moving together smoothly before they pulled away, love-struck smiles on their faces.

"I love you," Clary whispered, foreheads pressed together.

"I love you too." Jack tugged on the Shrike woman's hand, "Come on."

The followed after their friends, to find a large, white staircase. They stared over the edge of the railing.

" _Seeing is believing. But is it truth? Depends on your point of view._ "

The Horsemen exchanged wide-eyed looks.

" _Are you listening, Horsemen?_ "

They made their way carefully down the staircase.

" _When you emerge, and you will, I will be there waiting. Because mark my words, you will get what's coming to you in ways you can't expect. But very much deserve. Because one thing I believe in is an eye for an eye._ "

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **One more chapter! OH MY GOD!**

 **CHARLES IS JACK AND CLARY'S SON! Kudos to whoever guessed it, I hope it wasn't too obvious. AND THEY'RE ENGAGED! AND THEY ARE DEVELOPING AS A FAMILY! AND THEY KISSED AGAIN!**

 **I'm sorry, I'm calm now. But I still can't believe it: one more chapter to go and then** ** _The Emperor_** **is finished too. I feel very emotional right now. I am a bit upset that this story isn't longer.**

 **SOME NEWS THAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT: I have written a Jason Grace/OC, Heroes of Olympus fic that I will be posting very soon, so please, look out for that.**

 **Lots of love to my wonderful readers!**

 **~ Raven**


	9. CHAPTER 8

**_Voltaire's Final Lesson_**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me 2. I only own the character Clarissa Sinclair and her original plot lines and dialogue. I also own Charles Lionel 'Charlie' Wilder.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** _ **jessica02,**_ **_Amber0522_** **AND** ** _CasAteDeansPie_** **. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! LAST CHAPTER! I'M ACTUALLY CRYING AND HAVING A BREAKDOWN RIGHT NOW!**

* * *

 **[ _THREE_** ** _YEARS LATER_** **]**

Clarissa pushed her hair off her face and scribbled a note as best as she could, despite having Jack shoved into her side and making it difficult to write. She was sitting up and Jack had decided that the most comfortable way to sleep was to move down and place his head in Clarissa's lap. The bed they were in was warm, cozy for the little family of three and the large husky – Horus – sitting on Clary's feet made Clary sigh in contentment. This was her own, happy, little family.

The brunette woman finally huffed, "You do know that I'm never going to leave you again, right? You can let go."

Jack looked up at Clary, cradling their sleeping son to his chest. He smirked, "You better not." He shook his head, "I'm also not going to let go."

Clary rolled her eyes, "You'd miss me too much. I'd miss you too much to function."

The Wilder man smiled lovingly at his wife. They had been married for almost two years now and everyday Jack fell more in love with Clarissa Shrike-Wilder. Henley had reappeared briefly as Joan to attend the wedding and see Clary and Charles again, something that Clarissa had burst into tears at. Henley had lovingly wiped the tears away and had wished ever-lasting love for the younger woman who was like a sister to her.

Daniel had become the legal godfather of Charles and had sat beside Henley, who had been holding Charlie, at the wedding. And despite the redhead's protests at the seating arrangement, before long, their hands were tightly laced and Henley was reentering the world as Henley Reeves, former Horseman. She refused to be a part of the Eye, something the entire team respected, but she had stayed with them and she and Daniel were apartment-hunting, spending multiple days a week at the Wilder household. Clary couldn't be happier for them – Daniel had seemed to realise how empty his life had been without Henley in it and the pair rarely fought and the Atlas man had relinquished some of the control of their life to Henley, the Reeves woman most often getting her way.

Merritt had not changed, which had been no surprise. He randomly showed up and crashed on Clary and Jack's couch a lot of the time and desperately tried to teach their son, who was only three and a half, how to use mentalism to get what he wanted. Charlie's charms almost always worked on his father, the apple of Jack's eyes and he was becoming quite the mini-Jack. Clarissa had almost died laughing when Charlie started to wear a little leather jacket and pickpocket Jack, curtsey of 'Uncle Mer.' Charlie, however, had inherited Clary's talent with pickpocketing – she'd always been better than Jack – and with throwing around pieces of material to grab things. Merritt had taken to holding onto his hat with one hand at all times when he carried Charlie around the house.

Lula had become the 'cool Aunt,' as she called herself and had found that despite loving Charlie, she was absolutely atrocious with children. Whenever she baby-sat, Charlie was always still up late – _far_ too late – at night and always had always some sort of sugar-high. Clary didn't mind all too much, as long as Lula was the babysitter once a week and no more. Lula didn't mind, apparently not babysitting gave her time to go 'out on the town' and find a guy to take her. Clarissa had rolled her eyes at that, Lula deserved more than a drunken haze and a one night stand.

One person truly made her wedding day though. Dylan had walked Clary down the aisle on her wedding day and he was too much of a manly, former FBI agent to admit he cried. The wedding dress Clary wore had also been her mother's, along with the necklace she never took off and Dylan had searched through his things and had brought a photo frame to the wedding – a picture of a family of three – Clary, Dylan and Lillian – inside the gold frame. Dylan was always over at the house too – Clary often joked with Jack that the house didn't belong to them, it belonged to the _Horsemen_ – and Dylan always brought some type of present for Charlie. Charlie absolutely adored his _grand-père_ and was always eager to show him any new tricks he learnt from his mother and father. Dylan, whenever he saw his daughter, always told Clary how proud he was of her and the family she had.

"I love you so, so much. If anything was to happen…" Jack mumbled into Clary's stomach, turning his head slightly and she placed her notebook and pen on the bedside table, running her fingers through her husband's hair. Her psychology notes could wait, Clarissa knew that Jack was scared.

"We love you too." Clarissa assured him, "Nothing is _ever_ going to happen to us."

Her stomach nudged lightly at Jack's face, the baby inside kicking and Jack chuckled, forgetting his fears for the time being. He was going to be a _father_ again and this time, he was going to be there for every step of the way. Never did either of the Wilder adults think they would have this – the white-picket fence life, the one with the life-long partner, the dog and the child…and the baby on the way.

Jack shifted away so Clary could lie down and he wrapped his arms around her, making sure that the three loves of his life – Clary, Charlie and the baby – were comfortable. Clary reached out to run a gentle hand over Charlie's cheek, the little boy shifting in his sleep and Jack chuckled, his fingers dancing across Clarissa's swollen stomach.

 _This_. _This_ was home and it always would be.

 **XXXXX**

 _Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination._

 _~ Voltaire_

 **XXXXX**

 _Love is patient. Love is kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails._

 _~ Corinthians 13:4.7-8_

 **XXXXX**

 _Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well._

 _Voltaire_

Clary loved every aspect of her family. From the way Jack laughed and kissed her temple, how Henley and Daniel looked at each other, how Merritt pretended to be a horse when he gave Charlie a piggyback, the way that Dylan had learnt a bedtime song in French for Charlie and how Lula was the 'cool, Aunty Lu' that was always there with the alcohol for Clary and Jack and the time to be a babysitter for Charlie. They were trying their best to raise a three-and-a-half-year-old boy and were about to become the extended family of a newborn. They were a big, dysfunctional family made up of ex-criminals and ex-FBI agents.

But Clary wouldn't have it any other way.

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **That's it. That is a wrap.**

 **I am currently tearing up because I got really invested with this story.**

 ** _The Emperor_** **is finished and I am so, so grateful to everyone who read this story and** ** _The Empress_** **. I appreciate all the reviews and follows and favorites and I absolutely loved writing this story for you wonderful readers.**

 **Please, review what you thought about this story on a whole and ask any questions you want to ask. I will answer, I promise.**

 **Writing Clary as a character was amazing and I hope that you all liked her.** **If you want to, check out any other stories I've written and I hope that you liked the ending to this story.**

 **Lots of love and thanks,**

 **~ Raven**


	10. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**_HI, ALL!_**

 ** _I JUST GOT SOME AWESOME REVIEWS FROM MAYA, SO I THOUGHT I'D POST A QUICK Q AND A._**

 ** _SO, THE LINK TO CLARY'S CLOTHES IN CHAPTER FOUR (DOCTOR, DOCTOR) IS THIS:_** _lookbook/Willa+Holland/B-fK5szPxlE_ _ **HOPEFULLY IT CAN ME COPY AND PASTED, LET ME KNOW. AND IMAGINE CHARLES ANYWAY YOU WANT.**_

 _ **I ALSO WANTED TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I WOULD LOVE TO ANSWER THEM! I PRIDE MYSELF ON BEING A NICE AND APPROACHABLE AUTHOR.**_

 _ **I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION OF MY OWN: I HAVE AN IDEA FOR ANOTHER JACK/OC, NOW YOU SEE ME STORY AND I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IF YOU WANT TO READ IT. HERE'S A BRIEF DESCRIPTION.**_

 _ **TECH WIZARD**_ _; LEONORA 'LEO' QUENTIN ; 26 ; HACKER ; MEMBER OF THE FIVE HORSEMEN ; JACK WILDER / OC_

 ** _WHAT DO YOU THINK? WANT ME TO WRITE IT OR NO? TELL ME YOUR HONEST OPINION IF YOU CAN_**


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